Vancouver Folk Festival

Janice and I went with a friend of ours down to Jericho Beach last night where the Vancouver Folk Festival was on. We went to this festival a couple of years ago and had a great time. This year, we didn’t actually buy tickets to go into the event. We just hung out down at the beaches where we could still hear the music. We didn’t get to stay long or see much this year as the sun was already going down when we arrived, but it was still a memorable evening.

We parked our car about fifteen minutes away from where the festival was going on. As we walked along the beach to the festival, we could hear music from the main stage. As we got closer, their was a group of African drummers playing while people danced around them among tiki torches. There was a couple of guitarists playing among the crowd, but they were drowned out by the thundering rhythms. I love how the spirit of the festival bleeds throughout the surrounding area. All around us, people were tossing Frisbees, playing instruments, drinking wine out of the bottle, showing of skin art, dancing, and enjoying life.





The sound of the music grew louder as we got closer. We arrived at an outdoor market that resembled more of a shantytown where there must have been almost a hundred stalls, each selling handcrafted jewelry, fabrics, paintings, and the like. I’ve never been one for these kinds of trinkets, but still, I love seeing all of the different people and their wares.

I remember when we first arrived at the festival a few years ago. The first image that stuck in my mind was the amount of bikes that had been parked in a grass field. The event had a bike-check system where there must have been a few thousand bikes lined up. Some might say that the event is overrun with hippies, but I think that the population is broader than that. The type of people that make up the event are generally more open to different lifestyles. The event is stands for more than peace and love. It is about being free to be who you want to be and to be exposed to other ways of life – whether it be through music, dance, art, dress, tattoos, food, or people in general.

Inside the event – and the grounds surrounding it, the people are what make the event exciting. When we reached the main-stage a few years ago, the ground in front of the stage was littered with magnificently coloured blankets where people left their chairs, coolers, bags, and other personal belongings. They would leave these items behind for the day while they walked around and enjoyed the festival. Nobody seemed to be worried about anything going missing.

There were no police at the event, or any real security other than the fence surrounding the grounds. We stumbled across the odd person smoking pot and this was the first year that they served alcohol at the event, but although the scene was very lively, it could not be described as rowdy in any regard. I think that it’s pretty amazing that such an event is put together and runs so smoothly. I also love the culture that this city is home to.