Children’s Festival this Friday
Make Children First is organizing the first annual Ashcroft Children’s Festival on Aug. 21 in Heritage Place Park from 11am to 3pm. The Backyard Band will be performing at 12:30pm in the gazebo.
This is a fun, free family event which includes games, crafts and performances.
Make Children First supports families and caregivers of children 0-6. They strive to create healthy communities and provide support for all families in Clinton, Cache Creek, Ashcroft and the surrounding areas. For more info, visit www.makechildrenfirst.com
Music Fridays in Lillooet
Music Fridays is back at Lillooet’s 19th Century heritage home, the Miyazaki House. Admission for Music Fridays is by donation, and refreshments available for purchase.
Len Fardella performs on Aug. 21. A local favorite, Fardella has lived in Lillooet since 1973. His love of the land and rural lifestyle is evidenced in the songs he writes, incorporating local stories into lyrics.
Greg Mahaits performs on Aug. 28. Another Lillooet resident, Mahaits is a multi-instrumentalist and his repertoire includes toe-tapping old time banjo and fiddle tunes.
Rio Samaya performs on Sept. 4. Based in Vancouver, this duo are quickly becoming local favourites with their Latin-flavoured folk music.
Finale of Music In The Park
Don’t miss the final Music in the Park show of the season on Wednesday, Aug. 26. We go out in flat-out party mode with Kamloops classic-rock masters, Paisley Groove!
Bring your family and friends, a comfy lawn chair and a blanket and prepare to enjoy wonderful live music in a relaxed, family friendly venue. Admission is free, but pass-the-hat donations are encouraged. Opening Act starts at 6:30pm and the feature act at 7pm.
Paisley Groove is all about tunes and rhythms that you will want to dance to and sing along with from the 60’s and 70’s, including the Beatles, the Stones, Joe Cocker, Santana, as well as some Flamenco inspired grooves.
Opening for Paisley Groove will be Kirk Watson. Kirk is best known as the virtuoso bassist for Ashcroft’s world music band Spiritus Mundii, but for this special performance Kirk will be breaking out his acoustic guitar and we will see another side of this talented and multi-faceted artist.
He will share with us songs of his own creation plus a few covers, and will be joined on stage at various times with a few surprise guests. This will be a treat indeed!
Big Hero 6 is Moonlight Movie
Interior Savings presents Ashcroft Moonlight Outdoor Movie featuring Big Hero on Wednesday, Aug, 26. The concession and activities start at 7pm. The movie starts at dusk which is roughly 8:30pm. Admission is by donation. All donations are going to Desert Hills Tri Club.
Big Hero 6 is an animated movie about the special bond between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.
TMO Dinner Concert
The Grand Central Station will co-host a Dinner Concert featuring the fabulous gypsy folk six-piece band Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra on Thursday, Aug. 27. Doors open at 5:30pm with music starting at 7:30pm. Tix are available for the Dinner/Show or just for the Show and are available now at UniTea Tea Room and The Grand Central.
TMO has cycled through far-flung influences and youthful forays into sounds from all over, finding new vistas of creativity that bring them closer to their roots, to the people and places that have shaped them. Discover Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra for yourself here in Ashcroft.
Lytton River Festival – Labour Day Weekend
Each year the Lytton River Festival pays tribute to the Thompson and Fraser Rivers and celebrates Lytton’s vibrant community and First Nations culture. This free, family-friendly three-day event has live bands and street dances, children’s activities such as face painting and a climbing wall, farmers markets, organized hikes into the Stein Valley, First Nations artisans, and a traditional Pow Wow.
Visit www.riverfestival.ca/events/ for a complete list of events.
Friday morning kicks off with a stroll along the Fraser at 8:30 am after meeting at the Visitor Centre. The Farmers Market opens at 10 am Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit the Museum at 3pm for story telling – Lytton Legends. Have dinner at the Legion, 5:30. The Pernell Reichert Band takes to the stage at 5:30 and starts off an evening of music, capped off by Ritchie and the Fendermen at 9pm.
Start Saturday morning off with a Pancake Breakfast at the Parish Hall. 8-10:30am. The Festival officially opens at 10am with a Lytton hand drum welcome. The Welcome Booth opens at 10:30am and signals the beginning of many activities including live music, Gold Country’s new geocaching releases, the Two Rivers Art Show (11-6), Mr. Bubbles the Clown (noon-3 pm), Circus West performances, magic shows and workshops (1-3:30pm), and the climbing wall (2-4pm). Spiritus Mundii takes the stage at 5pm, followed by Ten Souljers at 7:30. They’ll stop for the Fire Dancer performance at 9pm and resume playing at 9:30.
Sunday is a little more laid back: the local First Nations artisans conduct workshops and demonstrations starting at noon and First Nations cultural performances take to the stage, first with the Tuckkwiowhum Heritage Inerpretive Village (1-2:30pm), followed by Kevin Loring’s Savage Society perform “Songs of the Land” (2:30-4pm), the Interactive First Nations Experience (4-5pm), ending with First Nations blues performer, Gerald Charlie from 5-7pm.
Rio Samaya at UniTea Sept. 6
Rio Samaya thrilled crowds at the Spences Bridge Desert Daze Music Festival this year, and are coming back to play a few shows in the area.
After years of exchange with other musician, Sal’s original music has a wide diversity of styles. He learned rumbas and flamenco from the gypsies in the south of France, and his compositions reflect those influences combined other folk rhythms.
He and Sal have a unique poetic style of translating simultaneously from Spanish to English.
Sal compliments the music with her vocals, accordion, shakers, chachas, bombo and guitar.
The doors at 6:30pm – shows starts at 7:30pm at UniTea Tea Room in downtown Ashcroft. Tickets at the door or call (250) 453-9345. Seating is limited to the first 30 people only.
Nadine Davenport
