And that’s a wrap! The fabulous 43rd edition of the Harrison Festival of the Arts is now history. This year, we returned to the traditional format and Harrison Hot Springs venues for the festival, after 2020’s cancellation and 2021’s limited event in Agassiz. It was a year of exciting new artistic discoveries, and for the staff and volunteers, a year of reacquainting ourselves with how to put on this very special event! We now are eager to launch into planning the 2023 festival, but before we do that we are taking some time to reflect on the many magical moments of community and inspiration that occurred during the 10 days.
As always, the program was diverse in style and cultural influences. This year, notably, there were several bands that combined electronic and analogue sounds in contemporary expressions of identity and community.
Beach Stage
We lucked out with the weather, so for much of the festival our Beach Stage concerts took place under moderate temperatures with either sunny skies or cloud cover. The first weekend of the festival was oriented towards BC acts on the beach. Following the traditional Sts’ailes welcome to this territory with Ryan Charlie and the Sasquatch Dancers the Japanese drumming group Kitari Taiko took the stage. Their exciting set set the tone for a weekend that showcased a diverse range of cultural expressions from the contemporary Celtic music of Jocelyn Pettit and Ellen Gira to the upbeat Zimbabwean grooves of Zimbamoto and the rockabilly of Rocket Revellers. Their regular guitar player couldn’t come because of illness so they got a sub, no less than one of the country’s best players, Paul Pigat!
As the week progressed the great music continued and included acts from farther afield. Monday night brought the exquisite a cappella arrangements of the Swedish group Kongero. Another midweek highlight was the Korean group Sinnoi, which combined breathtaking traditional singing with jazz bass playing and electronic soundscapes. The Daiquiri Queens came all the way from Lafayette Louisiana with their authentic cajun dance music to start the weekend on Friday night.
The second weekend was supercharged by the high energy Congolese Afro-futurism of Kizaba. The bandleader Lionel Kizaba never let up on his animating energy that brought the dancers to their feet, as the band pulsed away with complex guitar interplay and electronics. On the final Sunday, Cookin’ with Brass brought perfect festival vibes with their New Orleans style brass sounds. The festival on the beach ended with the quirky, hilarious and highly creative traditional Estonian music of Puuluup, who were a festival highlight for many.
Concert for Phyllis
The festival opened with a very special Friday night concert this year. During the pandemic we lost our former Artistic and Executive Director, Phyllis Stenson, however we did not have a chance to get together in the way would like to as a community, for obvious reasons related to the pandemic. So this was an opportunity to acknowledge her and celebrate her memory with what she loved best, good music. The concert featured three artists who she hired over the years and knew well, Lester Quitzau, Celso Machado, and Sandy Scofield. A longtime close friend of Phyllis, and someone deeply involved in the history of the festival, Ian Fenwick, shared some touching words, and the current AD Andy Hillhouse shared some highlights from Phyllis’s outstanding career.
Concerts in the Hall
The hall lineup this year was very strong, with some outstanding performances. Despite this, it was noticeable that many people are still shying away from indoor performances, which is completely understandable as the pandemic drags on. We are glad that those who are not ready to take that risk have the option of outdoor shows and we felt that the acts outside were equally as excellent!
In the hall, Five Alarm Funk were an explosive way to celebrate the first Saturday. The audience was primed to dance, and dance they did. The party continued as the weekend finished with a very special performance from DJ Shub, one of the originators of “electric pow-wow” music. The show featured Shub’s highly skilled scratching work, which the audience could see up close on projections. Dancers in regalia and rappers whipped the audience into a frenzy, and in a highlight of the evening, kids were invited onstage to dance with the band, which they did with abandon.The evening was opened with the beautiful songs of Kym Gouchie, an artist from Northern BC who also performed on the beach stage earlier in the weekend.
On Wednesday the 13th the audience travelled through music to New Orleans with John Boutte and his band. Mr. Boutte is simply a master performer with an enormous repertoire of songs. With a jazz sensibility he draws on songs from standards to folk music, gospel, and his own compositions, and delivers them with an outstanding stage presence. Thursday evening’s performer, PEI’s Lennie Gallant, is likewise a supremely assured performer, whose songs are classics on the East Coast. On the second Friday the talent and experience continued with Lorraine Klassen and her band, whose classic South African Township music was delivered with confidence, humour and not a little sassiness!
We were extremely fortunate this festival to be able to book Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. They are simply one of Canada’s best loved roots rock bands of all time, with a collective pedigree that is unmatched, featuring well known artists Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden, and Tom Wilson. Not surprisingly this show sold out in advance. The festival finished with what was an absolute discovery for many, Toronto’s Balaklava Blues. The band flew to Harrison from the Czech Republic, where they had played the night before for an audience of 60,000 at the Colours of Ostrava Festival! After a set including powerful songs on the Ukrainian situation using electronic sounds, drums, piano and violin, they ended the festival perfectly with a traditional Ukrainian a cappella song, calling the audience to gather up front of the stage while they sang off mic.
Literary Cafe and Evening of Theatre
The Monday night Literary Cafe moved this year to the Harrison Corner Cafe, which provided a warm space for readings from Colleen Brown, Marsha Lederman, Nicola Campbell and Joseph Dandurand. The sometimes deeply personal accounts, often touching on trauma, were interspersed with the beautiful and healing singing of Kongero. Tuesday night brought a return to the Memorial Hall for some short play selections from the UFV Emerging Director’s Showcase and a performance of the Candy Bones Show, a hilarious collection of sketches and short films featuring three eccentric characters created by actor Candice Roberts.
Children’s Day
Candice Roberts returned to the Hall on Wednesday the 13th with her character Ideas Bobert as part of Children’s Day. The day also featured outdoor performances by the French Canadian group Podorhythmie, who featured the old style hand-cranked animation of “crankies” alongside their traditional fiddling, and Children’s singer Penny Pom Pom. There was also a range of crafts and activities skillfully organized by new Children’s Day Coordinator Lyndsay James, and other options ranging from the climbing wall to theatre games. A fun time was had by all!
Visual Arts Exhibit and Artisan Market
This year the Ranger Station Gallery showed a very special exhibit that featured a retrospective on the work of former Harrison resident Alex Turner. Entitled “Transformations”, the exhibit was curated by Mr. Turner’s partner Lucian Childs and demonstrated a lifetime of artistic exploration, based in the medium of photography. While Alex Turner spent much of his life and career in Toronto, he was from Agassiz, and returned regularly to Harrison. His work was at once deeply specific to this area, sophisticated, and cosmopolitan.
After a three year pause, we were delighted to be able to bring back the Artisan Market to the waterfront. The market proved popular, with many patrons browsing the beautiful array of items on display, from stunning photography to jewelry and even some alcohol products! During the pandemic we lost some of our longtime vendors, and look forward to building it back up with some additional new vendors in the coming years.
