Singing in the key of “Green” at Vancouver Folk Fest

Friday, July 13^th heralded the start of the 35^th annual Vancouver Folk Fest.  Refreshingly debunking superstition, Friday dawned beautiful and sunny, setting the tone for a fabulous weekend of fresh air, great music, and fun. GSA’s table was in the Community Village, which Festival organizers thoughtfully situated on the main thoroughfare through the Festival grounds. The location proved to be prime real-estate, as we had scores of festival goers come to talk to us over the course of the weekend!

GSA's outreach team takes in the festival atmosphere.

This plethora of visitors can be attributed in no small part to our charismatic and beautiful mermaid. Having   recently received a make-over from GSA’s multi- talented Rebecca Adams, she was a very (VERY) attractive addition to our outreach team! With her help, Isabelle and I collected signatures for GSA’s brand new petition against the increase in oil tanker traffic planned for the Burrard Inlet, distributed literature about oil tankers and salmon farming, and spread the word about GSA’s Communities Atlas Project. Our free-draw was popular as well. Congratulations to the winners of the West Coast Basket, and the awesome AspenClean eco-friendly Whole House Cleaning Kit! Also, a BIG thank you to Aspen Clean natural cleaning products, the Flying Fish, the Barton & Leier Gallery, and St. Jean’s Cannery for their generous donations to our free draw! Furthermore, we had great conversations with individuals from a number of interesting groups including the Wilderness Committee, Against Port Expansion, and the BC Salmon Marketing Council, as well as Abby Shwarz, an awesome marine biologist and musician with a passion for sharks and herring (stay tuned for a link to her shark-finning awareness song, Children of the Sea!).

Sunday sunset over Jericho Beach.

All in all, it was an incredibly positive and successful weekend! The atmosphere couldn’t be beat, the weather was fabulous (save for a few spooky thunder showers), and the music was world class! Isabelle and I particularly enjoyed Dan Mangan, Ani DiFranco, The Head and the Heart, Hey Rosetta, Dala, and the Johnny Clegg Band. The grand finale of the event, which featured a sing-along of “This Land” by the festival’s many performing artists, even featured an improvised “we don’t want no Enbridge Pipeline!” sung to enthusiastic cheers from the audience.  Thank you to Vancouver Folk Music Festival for putting on such an amazing event, to our Executive Director, Christianne, for taking the time to help us throughout the weekend, and to GSA Board Member, Frank Tester for going the extra mile to draw people to our table with his energetic antics.

What an incredible way to spend a weekend!

Until next time,

                 Deanna