One of the Comox Valley’s busiest annual events will be keeping a group of Powell River artists rather busy this year. The 30th annual Filberg Festival kicks off this Friday, August 3, and runs through Sunday just across the water in Comox.
The festival has long been a favourite of artists and craftspeople hailing from a host of cities on the west coast and this year toymaker Jalu Wood Creations, clothing designer Jo’momma Designs and painter Autumn Skye Morrison will all represent Powell River at the event. They will join over 120 artisans from across Canada who create everything from pottery, toys, woodcraft, and metalwork to original paintings, jewellery and more.
Tomorrow, August 2, is a travel day for the artisans who will load up their vehicles, hop a ferry and unload Thursday afternoon on the nine-acre Filberg Heritage Lodge and Park. The past few weeks and months, however, have been a push to the finish getting their work approved by the festival jury, creations finished, items priced and display logistics resolved.
“It is a bit stressful,” said Eric Renken of Jalu Wood Creations. “All the craftspeople, you see them when they arrive and they’re just beat from getting themselves packed
and getting their stuff together.”
But after 10 years, he and wife Gabriele Schaub are likely pretty used to it by now. In fact, none of the Powell River participants this year are strangers to the event. This will be year six for Alisha Van Belle of Jo’momma Designs and year five for Morrison.
All agree that among the things to consider leading up to the event, stock is by far the biggest. “Definitely having enough stock,” said Morrison. “Just making sure I have lots of greeting cards and prints ready because smaller items are really popular. And I’m also finishing up a couple paintings and getting those all ready to go.”
Preparation begins a few months in advance, usually by augmenting a certain amount of existing stock and sometimes even starting from scratch after a particularly fortuitous show. And while vendors can usually anticipate how much of each product they will need, the occasional surprise is somewhat inevitable.
“I just have to make sure I have a whole lot of clothes because about 20,000 people come through there shopping,” said Van Belle. “This is the biggest festival I do in a year.”
It’s also her best out of the five or so large events she attends annually. “It kind of makes or breaks my year,” she said. “If I’ve done well at Filberg I know that I’m hitting the right market.”
Van Belle also takes prototypes of future products with her to get feedback from customers and tweak her ideas a little with help from the wandering public, a process Schaub also believes to be particularly helpful and important to her work as well.
“It’s good to get the feedback from the people about what they want,” she said. “That’s a big part of why you go to fairs because you get that feedback; what they like, what you should have, things like that.”
While feedback certainly is a good thing, so are sales, and the Filberg Festival doesn’t seem to fall short in that regard either. “It’s so established and so people know that they can come there and find quality art and craft so they come ready to buy,” said Morrison. “A lot of people do their Christmas shopping for the whole year there and it’s just a great collection of artists. The sales are fabulous and the variety of people is really broad. It’s a great atmosphere; relaxed but still classy.”
Attendees seem to agree. Many from Powell River and other communities across the province travel to Comox each summer to browse and buy. Particularly helpful for Powell River attendees is a shuttle service that runs from the Little River Ferry Terminal to the Filberg Festival grounds. For a $25 return trip, festival-goers can depart the terminal at either 9:45 am or 1:45 pm and return on either a 2:30 or 6:30 pm trip back to catch their ferry. Space is limited, however, and residents are encouraged to call 1.888.331.4737 in advance to reserve a seat.
The 2012 Filberg Festival runs from 10 am to 6 pm this Friday through Sunday and from 10 am to 5 pm on Monday. Tickets are available at the event gates and online.
