by Joyce Carlson When Powell River Festival of Performing Arts (PRFPA) was asked to consider hosting a provincial festival in 2014, the answer was “no can do, that’s an International Choral Kathaumixw year.”
But the Powell River group did accept the invitation to host in 2015. Two years ago, May 2015 seemed like a very long way away.
In October 2013, two PRFPA representatives travelled to Penticton, the 2014 host, for that community’s venue tour and a Performing Arts BC (PABC) meeting.
They were surprised by the amount of time spent discussing dance issues and found out that, unlike their local festival, dance makes up 50 per cent of the registration for provincials.
Confident of the great facilities in Powell River and the wonderful volunteers, they were concerned about dance requirements.
Some committee members woke up many times in the middle of the night after committing to host the provincials, wondering how to meet the $101,000 budget and trying to figure out all the details that had to be resolved.
Finally a plan was devised, based on how to eat an elephant, which is one bite at a time. Determining what needed to be done today and then doing it became the coping method.
Fast-forward to April 2015 and things were coming together. Like Christmas, the festival was going to happen. Things accelerated as the days went by, more and more quickly it seemed.
Then it was registration day. Tables for all the disciplines were set up, each with delicious apples for all the delegates. Welcome bags were at the ready with brochures and offers from businesses and organizations. Pretty soon through the doors they came, the reason for all the work over 18 months. They came in waves based on ferry schedules, registered, reserved pianos for practice and headed off to their accommodations.
Wednesday the competitions began and the first of three Future Stars Concerts was held. The community was buzzing with an estimated 1,500 people eating in restaurants, shopping in stores and exploring the area.
We lived up to our name as the Sunshine Coast, our views and sunsets enthralling our visitors and residents earning a reputation for being very friendly. So many people had never been here before and vowed to return.
Before we knew it, the competitions, main concerts and workshops were over. The signs were down, the venues cleared out, the PABC office packed up and our visitors left.
Next year, Fort St. John will host the provincial festival and their planning has already begun.
We all have special memories and stories about the 2015 provincials that we will be sharing for a long time.
Those sleepless nights and hours of meetings were all worth it when we reflect on the success of what our community pulled off.
In a short time, PRFPA will begin preparations for the local festival that begins in February 2016. It is one of 34 festivals around BC that feed into the provincial one. And the cycle continues.
Joyce Carlson is a member of The Rotary Club of Powell River, helps with the Powell River Festival of Performing Arts committee and worked with the 2015 Performing Arts BC Provincial Festival host committee.
