Brandon HOFFMAN
Special to the Tribune
We’re in the final countdown to the first ever Dark Times Festival, taking over downtown Williams Lake March 2-4 2018! What started as a quick-and-dirty winter get-together has slowly grown into a 26-act, four-venue, full-blown music festival.
Along with headliners like Lydia Hol, Jasper Sloan Yip, Uschi Tala and Blocktreat, we’re extremely excited to have added acts like Real Ponchos, Wallgrin and Samson’s Delilah. Personally one set I am most excited for is a collaboration set, between violin-vocal looper extraordinaire Wallgrin, and heavyweight percussionist / beatmaker Druiz (Daniel Ruiz). Druiz comes from Vancouver, and honed his percussion skills growing up in Bogata Columbia. As a duo, Wallgrin (Tegan Wahlgren) and Druiz will be throwing it down at 11p.m. on Saturday evening at the Limelight Theatre.
Another moment I am most looking forward to is Firewood Poetry’s set at the Gecko Tree on Saturday evening at 9:45pm. Firewood Poetry (aka Trinity Forbes) will be bringing her guitar / electronics / vocal prowess to the Limelight Theatre on Friday night, but imagining all that energy packed into the intimacy of the Gecko gives me shivers.
Read more: Dark Times a bright light for community music
Saturday afternoon you will have a chance to wax poetic with the Cariboo’s unofficial poet laureate Sonya Littlejohn. She will be hosting a spoken-word workshop at the Arts Centre from 1-2:30 p.m.
If you can’t make it to any of the evening programming, pop into the Bean Counter Saturday afternoon to catch artists like Cole Patenaude, Lydia Hol, Jasper Sloan Yip and Leathan Milne. These afternoon performances are totally free and open to the public.
After two evenings of starry-eyed galavanting through downtown Williams Lake, we will close things off with a Sunday brunch session at the Arts Centre. Delicious brunch is provided with a suggested donation of $5 to Arts on the Fly Festival Society. Music for the Sunday Brunch session will come care of Samson’s Delilah, Salty Jefferson, and Real Ponchos. Any brave souls who attended Sonya’s poetry workshop over the weekend will have an opportunity to try out their spoken-word pieces to the (likely sleepy and extremely forgiving) brunch-time audience.
The schedule is live right now, at artsonthefly.com/darktimes, so check it out and plan your weekend!
Tickets are moving fast! At this rate we’re likely to sell out, which means passes will not be available at the gates. Get yours in advance or it will be truly dark times! Adult weekend passes are just $50, available at the Bean Counter or artsonthefly.com/darktimes. There are reduced rates for youth and seniors, and single-day passes are available as well.
Ticket holders can check in at the Limelight to receive their bracelets. Online ticket holders need only bring their paypal receipt and a piece of ID. All four venues are licensed and all-ages.
We could not have built this festival into the minor monstrosity that it is, without the incredible support of the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society’s Support Grant program, the Downtown Williams Lake BIA, the City of Williams Lake, Cariboo GM, and the 2018 Juno Awards’ Let’s Hear It BC Experience Music Program (supported by Music BC and Creative BC). The Arts on the Fly Festival Society sends our gratitude to all these fine organizations. It is because of them that we are able to bring so many fantastic local and visiting performers to the stage, and keep our ticket prices nice and affordable.
See you at Dark Times!
Read more: Soothe the winter blues at Dark Times
