2022 Photo GALLERY
Upcycled ART EXHIBITION
This annual highlight of the festival showcased upcycled and recycled visual art created by seven local artists; Mya Bergeron, Jim Christy, David Evanson, Tam Harrington, Roger Handling, Liz deBeer, Gary Sean Loewen, and Vancouver’s Cyd Eva. The show featured recycled assemblage art; ceramics, textiles, paper collage, wood sculpture, and glass mosaics. The festival opening featured the custom-created upcycled Junkyard Band; Barry Taylor, Heidi Kurz, Simon Hocking, Boyd Norman, and John Rule playing all hand made instruments made from recycled cast-offs and trash.
Samhain Parade and Carnival
On October 31st, the fantastical finalé for the 2022 festival combined Latin el Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations with Celtic Samhain (whence Halloween) traditions. Those lucky enough to attend Gerardo Avila’s sold out Mask Making Workshops had an opportunity to show their handiwork off as the inaugural parade marched behind Gerardo’s massive Catrina puppet to music by Bellows and Strings from the Seaside Centre in downtown Sechelt to Hackett Park. We lit up the new bandstand for its first ever evening show and the Junkyard Band (Simon Hocking, Heidi Kurtz, Boyd Norman, John Rule, Barry Taylor) performed their strange, mainly original music on upcycled, handmade instruments. Emily Sheridan’s fantastic Thriller dance group from the Gibsons Dance Centre and the Cool Heat Fire Dancers engaged and entertained hundreds of community members at the final fire, dance, and live music show.
Everyone had so much fun we’ve decided to do it again in 2023. Annual production? Stay tuned!
Buffalo Dreaming
Dance. Decolonize. Repeat. Produced by Dancing in All Directions in collaboration with the SC Dance Society, the Buffalo Dreaming performance project brought local indigenous and south Asian dance culture together to tell their story of colonization through dance, music, and imagery. Cariboo-Chilcotin region and shishalh nation dancers and drummers came together telling parallel stories from western (Turtle Island) and eastern (South Asian) culture, myths, and legends. Thanks to project sponsors like Telus, BC Arts Council, and SC Foundation for making this project a reality.
redress
The ReDress fashion event featured upcycled fashions from Pattern Nation, local designer Uni Design, and vintage curators from Wow It’s Vintage in the spirit of promoting fashion sustainability. Taking old or cast-off textiles and transforming them into something new, recycled fabrics and garments become trendsetting statements. Local models presented vintage maker Wow It’s Vintage re-purposed clothing, Christine Piasta’s collection of vintage evening dresses while Mya Bergeron’s UNI designs teamed up with Vancouver’s up-cycled fashion makers Pattern Nation to strut their stuff down a 24 foot runway to the the music of DJ Robby Luvdub, and lights by HoneyBee. Hosted by Gabriel Dittmers.
The Beat Goes ON
An evening of drama, beat poetry, and jazz celebrated the life and times of author Jack Kerouac on the 100th Anniversary year of his birth, set within the Upcycle Art Exhibition at the Seaside Centre. The evening featured beat poetry readings and a dramatic vignette of Jim Christy's play Jackie and Jack, performed by Steve Schwabl, Varya Rubin, and Wanda Nowicki. Introduction and reminiscences were provided by author Jim Christy. All set to cool live jazz by Graham Ord and Paul Steenhuis.
Go to Menu Item Past Videos to see a video of the performance shot from the audience.
Music Macabre
An evening of live music featuring two of the Coast's finest classical musicians, Katherine Hume and David Poon, with special guest, 17 year old UBC music student Isaac Howie. Dirges, fugues, and haunting music that fit the Halloween weekend spirit, played on St Hilda's magnificent pipe organ. Co-presented with Music Arising!, St Hilda’s Recital Series.
Workshops
Master mask artist Gerardo Avila instructed a capacity group in making carnival style Catrina masks and Samhain style demi-masks that they could then wear in our Samhain Parade and Carnival.
Multimedia Artist Tam Harrington instructed on how to create your own Iconic Art Box, transforming discarded objects and materials into unique objects of art. The festival hosted a buffalo prayer flag art making workshop with artist Hazel Bell-Koski and a community-based buffalo mask workshop in partnership with art-makers from Deer Crossing the Art Farm. The art making flags and masks were featured as props in “The Buffalo Dreaming” dance/theatre performances.
We even hosted a “Build a Pipe Organ from OrgelKidsCAN” led by Katherine Hume of MusicArising. Co-presented with Music Arising!, St Hilda’s Recital Series.
EVERY OLD HOUSE TELLS A STORY HERITAGE EXHIBIT
Everything old is new again. Why are we destroying our heritage homes to make way for “progress”? This heritage exhibit in the Seaside Centre shone a light on several of the over 160 District homes listed in the Sechelt Archives having architectural or heritage importance. We explored how we might preserve these gems in our community and why they are important for protecting our neighbourhood values and promoting sustainability.
