It’s an exciting time to be running a Kootenay festival.
Shambhala Music Festival has been sold out since September, Kaslo Jazz recently doubled its performer budget and Ymir’s Tiny Lights has reached its full capacity. Recently Starbelly Jam was resurrected after a year hiatus, Unity Festival is going strong in Slocan, and Massif will be returning to Nelson for its second run at the end of the summer.
And as far as Tiny Lights executive director Carla Stephenson is concerned, a rising tide lifts all boats.
“Everyone had their biggest year last year, which makes me believe that festivals are alive and well and are holding essential space in our community,” she told the Star.
“Another great thing is we’ve all found our own niches. Kaslo Jazz gets high-end acts, Starbelly is family oriented, and what all of us have to do is focus on what makes each of us unique. In order to prosper we all need to offer different experiences.”
This year is Tiny Lights’ sixth kick at the can, and they’re still riding high after a sell-out year last summer. Now they’ve got to start focusing on innovating.
“From this point on, we won’t be growing in size. The capacity of our town has been reached, so we need to focus on getting better, not bigger,” she said.
And it doesn’t get much bigger than Shambhala, which attracts a city-sized crowd of approximately 15,000 people to the Salmo River Ranch every year. Though their crowds dwarf those of the up-and-coming festivals, executive director Jimmy Bundschuh believes there’s plenty of room for everybody.
“I think there’s the right amount of festivals in the Kootenays. The risk would be festival saturation, but everyone’s picked a different direction and different dates. That co-operation is a reason why everyone can remain healthy,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean he gets to relax now that they’re celebrating their 20th anniversary.
“It’s a great milestone, and we’re in a comfortable place where we’re established. Our challenge moving forward is to remain relevant. We need to push the boundaries.”
For him that means “getting the guests to be less of spectators and more active.”
“This is not the classic rock concert where you’ve got thousands of people bobbing their heads. We want people to be an active part of it, so the guy on the stage isn’t necessarily the star of the show. Really it’s the people on the dance floor wearing costumes, helping strangers, participating in the experience.”
In the past, the idea has been floated of creating a collaborative board where festivals can share resources and infrastructure. So far nothing formal has been created, but the festivals are taking advantage of each others’ expertise.
“It’s like we’re helpful competitors,” Kaslo Jazz’s Paul Hinrichs said.
“I think we’ve all figured out that it helps everybody to communicate.”
He figures Kaslo has nearly met its capacity as well, so now his focus is on improving the experience at the camping, vendor and services level — all while still booking the best acts he can.
“Everyone’s feeling really encouraged by the numbers. We feel good because there’s a lot of diversity within the festival scene, but there’s minimal overlap as far as genre and vision.”
He’s curious to see how Starbelly, which he used to be involved with, fits in the picture.
“It’s great they’re coming back and I think the East Shore really needs an event like that. I’m personally interested to see what they do, and I definitely think there’s room for them.”
And many of the festivals have the government to thank for funding that keeps them afloat. Stephenson said a new institution, Creative B.C., has made new funding available in 2017.
“There’s been a real boost of grants in British Columbia, lots of money going into festivals and the music community, and that’s going to make a huge difference.”
But if you want to buy tickets to any of these festivals, act now.
“We’re looking at a situation where at least three or four of our main festivals are going to sell out this year,” said Hinrichs.
“And that’s a pretty exciting place to be. So if you’re looking to buy tickets to any of these festivals, my advice would be to do it sooner rather than later.”
