By mid-August blackberries will be plentiful and ready to harvest. Some say south of town is a sweet spot for picking, due to a supposed microclimate.
The qathet region's beloved Blackberry Festival, a celebration of the mouth-watering berry, was an idea spurred into reality by Ken and Larraine Kemper in the mid-1980s, but only lasted a couple summers. The festival went on hiatus until it was revived as a street party in August 1993, organized by Shelley Halliday.
The festival, now called the Blackberry Festival Street Party, returns Friday, August 15, from 6 to 10 pm, on Marine Avenue, hosted by Powell River Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Powell River.
Ken and Larraine spoke with the Peak about the early days of the festival and how it came to be.
"I lived in Powell River from 1983 to 1991, when I was the manager of what was then known as the Canada Employment Centre," explained Ken. "In 1985, the Expo 86 [organizing committee] encouraged communities in BC to launch projects to promote tourism in their areas, mistakenly [as it turned out] anticipating that international tourists attending Expo 86 [World’s Fair] would take the opportunity to travel throughout BC."
Ken and Larraine brainstormed one evening to think up things they found unique and appealing about the region. Being new arrivals from Alberta, they were enthralled with blackberries.
"We baked with them, made syrup and made wine, which local people had been doing for generations," said Ken. "So why not a blackberry festival?"
A significant part of Ken's mandate was to engage with business and community development organizations.
"I approached a number of people, including the late Bob Butkus, then the principal of Malaspina College [formerly Vancouver Island University], and [former Peak publisher] Joyce Carlson," said Ken. "Bob and I attended a town council meeting where [former] mayor Colin Palmer proclaimed Powell River the Blackberry Capital of the Universe."
Larraine said she gives credit to the Okanagan area and the people organizing wine festivals there.
"We really didn't know how to organize a festival," added Larraine. "So I contacted the people organizing the wine fest and got some ideas from them, but we also just brainstormed the things we'd like to do that involved a wide swath of the population."
The first Blackberry Festival was held in August 1985 as a trial run through preparatory to the 1986 event.
"We had a baking contest, a wine contest, art on the beach and the big event, the Blackberry Olympics at Willingdon Beach," said Ken. "As a fundraiser we published the Berry Best Cook Book, with help from Joyce and also Peter Chan, owner and chef of Chanterelles Restaurant, who did the calligraphy."
He said the cookbook sold well and the proceeds helped augment the funding from Expo 86.
"I still have my copy of the Best Berry Cook Book," said Carlson. "Two of my nieces, Kelley and Cheryl Milne, have recipes in the book, as do I."
Ken said after the local Expo 86 committee wrapped up they approached several service clubs and other organizations hoping to find a new sponsor to keep the festival alive.
"We had a balance of $800 to pass onto a new committee," said Ken. "Sadly, none were able to take it on at the time."
Ken and Larraine eventually moved to Comox for work.
"Several years later, after we had moved, I was approached asking for background information and thoughts to help reignite the fun that has continued now as the Blackberry Festival," said Ken. "Many of the original committee members are no longer with us, and sadly, my 81-year-old memory is struggling to remember others, but we had one fantastic time putting it all together and making it all work. "
Ken and Larraine said they miss living in qathet, but they frequently return to visit old friends. Carlson relives the festival’s origins annually.
"Each year when Blackberry Festival comes around, I think back on the Kempers’ original idea, the fact I was part of the beginning, and take pride in that it is happening 40 years later," said Carlson.
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