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Kaleidoscope Fest: Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3, 6-11 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 4, 6-10 p.m., with projections lighting up at sunset, at the North Vancouver Shipyards. Free. Info: kaleidoscopefest.ca. Tickets for the festival’s VIP Lounge, featuring premium viewing areas of the main attractions, are $79, visit eventbrite.ca.
An inaugural 3D light and art festival set to transform the North Vancouver Shipyards over Labour Day weekend into an illuminated outdoor art gallery hopes to shine a much-needed light on mental health.
Kaleidoscope Fest, taking place over three evenings, Friday, Sept. 2 through Sunday, Sept. 4, will offer community members an opportunity to experience 3D projection mapping, visual DJing, living art exhibits and live music as well as enjoy food trucks and other vendors. The free, non-profit event is intended to raise funds for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation’s youth mental health campaign, which is aiming to build a new youth mental health unit in North Vancouver’s HOpe Centre that will serve teenagers, ages 13 to 18, faced with mental health and substance use challenges.
Festival organizer and creator Ingrid Letkeman says the purpose of the event is to help remove some of the stigma that can exist surrounding mental health, evident in her choice of event title.
“‘Kaleidoscope’ basically represents the fact that mental health can take on many different shapes and forms,” says the North Vancouver resident.
By focusing on light and illumination Letkeman hopes festival attendees, particularly those experiencing mental health issues, either personally, or in their friend and family networks, walk away with a sense of optimism and start to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“There’s always hope. You can pull through things. I feel that everyone’s been in touch with mental health in some way or form … there’s always some connection. The more that we reach out to one another and communicate to one another, the easier and better dealt with this will be,” she says.
Letkeman is presenting Kaleidoscope Fest through her company, Stand Out Events, which organizes entertainment and corporate events.
“I always wanted to give back to the community. I’m very passionate about this issue,” she says. “Basically I wanted to take my creative energy and abilities and work with a good charity that can really draw some attention to this issue. That’s why I focused on this festival. I thought it could really bring something new, unique and fun to the North Shore as well.”
The festival’s concept was derived from Letkeman’s 25 years spent living in Sydney, Australia, home to the annual Vivid Sydney, described as the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas. More than 2.3 million people attended the 2016 edition, held earlier this year.
“It started off in 2009 with just projecting onto the Sydney Opera House but now it has spread throughout the whole city and it’s in other suburbs as well,” says Letkeman, who attended many times over the years.
Wanting to offer the North Shore a taste of the impressive display, Letkeman was compelled to put mental health at the forefront of her version due to her previous work experience in the field, having been tasked with organizing events and seminars on an array of related topics, opening her eyes to some of the challenges faced by those who are struggling.
“When I came over here I just saw that there was a huge lack in information and help for those people that suffered mental health (issues). The whole point of this festival is to try and generate more interest and communication,” she says.
Kaleidoscope Fest will kick off on the Friday of the Labour Day weekend at the North Vancouver Shipyards, centred around Burrard Dry Dock Pier, Wallace Mews archway and the Shipyards Stage, beginning at 6 p.m., with the projections lighting up at sunset. Festival goers can also browse the weekly Friday Shipyards Night Market offered at the site, and are invited to take in the main festival attraction, which is projection mapping of specially created art pieces on one of the buildings at the pier, lighting up Saturday and Sunday evenings as well.
“The projection team that I’m working with, which is Go2Productions, they’ve been doing this a long, long, long time. They’re very talented and very creative,” says Letkeman.
A work by Burnaby-based artist Taslim Samji is among those being prominently featured.
“She has created a piece that symbolizes Vancouver city, it’s actually based off van Gogh’s The Starry Night. Van Gogh himself suffered from mental illness. Basically she’s put various symbols of different religions and cultures, symbolizing faith and hope. Her perspective is that mental health does not discriminate, it touches everybody,” says Letkeman.
Blanche Macdonald students will showcase their talents as well.
“They’ve developed a full body art exhibit that they’ll be putting onto their models. It’s basically them reflecting how they feel about mental health,” says Letkeman.
Festival goers are also invited to take advantage of the VIP Lounge, a ticketed area lit up with LED contemporary furniture from iLED, and offering food and drinks, intended to raise further funds for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation’s youth mental health campaign, open for all three nights of the festival.
“It looks really fantastic. It’s right there in the middle of the whole festival and it’s got 360-degree views,” says Letkeman.
