The Meadowlark Nature Festival may be celebrating its 18th year this May, but the event remains as fresh as ever with a mix of new events and old favourites.
The flagship event of the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance has 75 tours on offer this year, from hiking and canoeing adventures to geology and astronomy, all taking place from May 14 to 18.
This year, Meadowlark is expanding to the north, with two tours in the Kelowna area, including a tour of important, and beautiful, geological features with Dr. Murray Roed.
“He’s done some South Okanagan tours in the past, but never one in the Kelowna area,” said festival coordinator Jayme Friedt, noting that Layer Cake Mountain is on the itinerary.
Friedt said that with people coming to Meadowlark from all over the Okanagan and Similkameen, it made sense to expand the locations.
“We were approached by the Okanagan Naturalists Club and I think the more the merrier, was kind of the idea,” she said. “We definitely have audiences everywhere.”
Meadowlark events cover a broad spectrum of outdoor activities, including the arts, with workshops from photographers, painters and writers, like nature poet and UBC Okanagan professor Nancy Holmes who will be teaming up with writer Don Gayton to lead a group through an open air discussion of nature writing on the Trout Creek Ecological Reserve.
This year’s featured artist is Bethany Handfield, whose mixed media painting, Meadowlarking, will be the signature artwork of this year’s festival.
“I really wanted to represent the idea of childhood and nature,” said Handfield. “It’s definitely more on the whimsical side than the more realistic ones that have gone before. I just love the spirit of it. I just love the interaction of the little meadowlark family.”
Meadowlarking will be on display at the Penticton Art Gallery starting May 14, at the opening for her exhibition, Bee Alchemy and the Resurrection of Dreaming.
Another addition this year is the expansion of the annual gala. In previous years, there was a keynote speaker on the Friday night, and a banquet on Saturday evening.
“We are combining the two this year and having a keynote speaker gala,” said Friedt, adding they increased the budget for the keynote speaker.
“We’ve always had really good speakers, but they have been more sort of regional speakers,” she said. “This year we are presenting Chris Turner. He is one of the premier voices on sustainability in Canada.”
Turner has authored four books, including the Geography of Hope, which recounts a journey with his wife and child around the world, searching for people that were engaging in sustainable solutions.
“He has an interesting perspective, a real world perspective on sustainability and solutions,” said Friedt.
But the first event of the festival is always the opening of ticket sales, as nature-lovers lineup to be sure of securing their choice of tours.
“Events do sell out quickly. It is definitely our intent to keep the tours small,” said Friedt, explaining that is so people have maximum interaction with the experts guiding their tours.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Shatford Centre, 760 Main St., in advance of online sales, which start at 2 p.m. In-person sales continue every Wednesday and Saturday between April 8 and May 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Meadowlark office in the Shatford Centre.
For more information visit meadowlarkfestival.bc.ca.
