This weekend hundreds of music and theatre fans descended on Gabriola Island for the inaugural Cultivate Festival.
Gabriola Arts Council program director Mitch Miyagawa said more than 1,200 music and theatre tickets were sold and he estimates up to 700 people attended the free daytime activities at Gabriola Commons from Aug. 16 to Aug. 19.
Cultivate featured musicians, theatre performers and artists from Gabriola, Vancouver Island and the mainland.
“We’ve just been blown away with this festival so far,” said Miyagawa, shortly before taking in a performance of Shield Maiden, a one-woman show by Gabriola resident Melanie Teichroeb.
“The community has really come alive here on Gabriola Island and people are loving it.”
Cultivate is a new endeavour for the GAC, a merger of the group’s long-running theatre festival and last year’s music festival.
“It’s really met all our wildest dreams of what this festival can be, bringing together music and theatre and art in a real community setting,” Miyagawa said.
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