The 25th annual Harmony Arts Festival, a free, 10-day celebration of music, cinema, visual and culinary arts along the West Vancouver waterfront, July 31 to Aug. 9. harmonyarts.ca
Harmony Arts Festival's Christie Rosta loves the fact that, like clockwork, her phone starts ringing every spring.
That time of year is when she begins fielding calls from arts-loving community members, desperate for a sneak peak into the upcoming summer's annual cultural celebration along West Vancouver's waterfront.
This year marks the District of West Vancouver special events and festivals manager's fifth season with Harmony Arts and the continued support and interest expressed by community members, young and old, helps fuel her own passion for the free, 10-day celebration of music, cinema, visual and culinary arts.
"The festival is just so alive and energetic with so many different pieces in it," says Rosta.
"There's something for everyone," she adds.
For Rosta it's all about the people: the artists who share their works across an array of mediums; the volunteers who contribute countless hours to pull off the event year after year; and of course the community members who look forward to attending.
"Everyone is just so happy to be together. It has such an amazing vibe," she says.
Adding to Rosta's excitement is that this year's Harmony Arts Festival, running July 31-Aug. 9, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The festival was created by former West Vancouver mayor Mark Sager and Cathy Matheson, then the district's cultural services supervisor. "They decided that they wanted to create an arts festival that would bring community together and celebrate arts on the waterfront," says Rosta.
Harmony Arts has continued to evolve and grow, and currently sees approximately 130,000 people attend annually. It's comprised of primarily free events and activities, speaking to one of its original concepts, that it would be free and accessible to all.
When asked what she attributes the festival's longevity to, Rosta credits the support of artists themselves, as well as the volunteers, a number of whom have been lending a hand for all of its 25 years.
"The volunteers play a critical role in commitment to the festival and bring that energy from the community into the actual execution of the festival," she says. This year's visual art offerings include a number of art installations. Among them is Intense the Heat, a swaying energy work on Ambleside Pier, designed by returning artist Matthew Soules.
Another is You and I, by Vancouver's Marie Khouri, installed in Millennium Park. "It's a seating arrangement made out of Arabic letters. They spell 'You and I,' which is meant to stimulate conversation," says Rosta.
West Vancouver artist Cori Creed led the creation of Bird Canopy, collaborating with community members of all ages. Participants used paint and mixed media to make pieces of art that were transferred onto recycled chloroplast (sourced from previous West Vancouver events), and cut into crow silhouettes. The birds will hang above the crowds at John Lawson Park, a performance venue.
To mark the festival's anniversary, a special art exhibition is being presented at the Ferry Building Gallery. The show, 25 Years, 25 Artists, is curated by Meghan Parker, visual arts co-ordinator for the festival, in collaboration with the gallery's Ruth Payne. Featured artists have all supported or been part of Harmony Arts over the years and include Bobbie Burgers, Kiff Holland, Tracey Tarling, Sylvia Tait, Arnold Shives and Stuart Slind to name a few.
"It is really special, all these artists obviously have a deep connection with the city of West Vancouver - either they live here or they work here. It's nice to be able to celebrate that," says Parker. The exhibition was collaborative in nature, inspired by the surrealist game "exquisite corpse" or "cadavre exquis."
"We were thinking about that idea of community and connection and so what does the festival mean for the arts in West Vancouver? What does the festival mean for these particular artists? And them all having a connection to the festival, how can we make it more than just a submit-one-work-to-us kind of exhibition?" says Parker.
Each artist was given a uniform-sized canvas or wood panel with marks indicating where it would connect to another. The resulting interlocking works will wrap around the inside of the Ferry Building, forming one continuous piece. The show will open with a reception July 31 from 6 to 7 p.m., and remain on display until Aug. 16.
The Silk Purse Arts Centre is also presenting an exhibition related to this year's Harmony Arts Festival, showcasing the works of Artspeaks workshop program presenters. Its opening reception is also being held July 31, from 6 to 7 p.m. Other art offerings for 2015 include the Harmony Arts Festival Art Market, featuring a mix of new and returning artists. "We have a wonderful array of high quality artisans. I think they put on a fabulous show each year with really interesting and diverse pieces," says Rosta.
The ArtBeat program, not offered in recent years, is returning for the festival's anniversary edition, seeing participating stores in Ambleside, Dundarave, Caulfeild and Horseshoe Bay neighbourhoods exhibit local artworks, available for purchase. A guided tour is set for Aug. 8.
This year's festival will see the presentation of more than 70 concerts, kicking off with Me and Mae July 31 at 7:30 p.m. at John Lawson Park, part of its Onni Group Sunset Concerts series, and the Fab Fourever - Beatles Tribute the same evening at Millennium Park at 8:45 p.m., part of the PARC Retirement Living Garden Concerts series. The festival is boasting an expanded film program this year with outdoor movies being screened at John Lawson Park on all nine evenings, ranging from The Princess Bride Aug. 1 and Dirty Dancing Aug. 7, to Casablanca Aug. 4, all starting at 9 p.m.
Culinary offerings include food by Caffe Al Mercato and Mangia E Bevi Ristorante in the RE/MAX Waterfront Lounge. "This is their fifth year with us and they're just so community-focused and do such a great job," says Rosta, adding their gelato is to die for.
She's also "over the top excited" to be partnering with The Dirty Apron Cooking School and Delicatessen for the Park Royal Beachside Patio.
The festival's ever- popular Best of the West, an evening of food and wine pairings celebrating B.C., set for Aug. 5, is already sold out for 2015.
All new to the festival this year is a Pop-up Marina and Club 25 boater concierge.
"There will be 12 mooring buoys off the shores of West Vancouver and we're offering a concierge dinghy service to go pick everyone up from their boats and bring them to the Ambleside Landing Pier. And you can have an overnight stay. So if you come to the festival, rather than boating home in the dark, you can stay overnight and experience West Van in the morning," says Rosta.
When asked what she most enjoys about being involved in Harmony Arts, this year marking her third season with the festival, Parker says it's the inspiration it affords.
"Getting to work with artists just reminds me that we're all creative beings and it's just about putting time and effort. A love of making I think is really what this festival reminds me. As much as I love helping people make their living in the creative field, it also makes me want to go home and be creative when I get home too - you know? It reminds me that, that's in all of us and that we need to keep working on it," she says.
For the full 2015 Harmony Arts Festival schedule and lineup, visit harmonyarts.ca.
