The first ever Squamish Constellation Festival took place on July 26 to 28, 2019 and was held in Hendrickson Field. The festival was comprised of two stages, local vendors, artists, and food trucks.
A Day at the Squamish Constellation Festival
The atmosphere was incredibly family friendly. Stilt walkers and acrobats roamed the audience between acts. Face painted kids sat on picnic blankets to watch artists perform. A row of clothing vendors was set down the middle of the festival, selling a wide range of festival clothes from bright floral dresses to colourful western style vests.
Constellation Festival is working towards a waste-free environment in music festivals. Compost stations were set up throughout the field and a water refill station was available for attendees to use whenever needed.
Foxwarren, Jocelyn Alice, The Sunset Kids
Saturday’s lineup was full of amazing artists. We flipped back and forth between the stages to catch every act. We discovered a new love for Art D’ecco. Between walking from The Sunset Kids to Jocelyn Alice, we filled up on food truck snacks. We sat on the grass waiting for Foxwarren to play their set and ate our dinner surrounded by groups of other people warming up in the sun. Fortunately we walked away without any burns when the day was over.
Peach Pit
As Peach Pit was setting up, we wandered over past the racks of cowboy hats and people on picnic blankets to watch the band we were most excited for. We watched the crowd jump around to new, unreleased Peach Pit music, the old and loved album, and even a Tom Petty cover.
Organisers are hoping this is the first of many Constellation Festivals in the years to come. Follow the festival on Twitter and Instagram for updates ahead of next summer.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Sponsored by Metropolis at Metrotown Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
The world’s largest flip flop art exhibit is coming to Burnaby, transforming an environmental hazard into something beautiful, while supporting a great local cause! Metropolis at Metrotown presents Waste to Wonder, one-of-a-kind art exhibit transforming flip flop pollution into life-size animal sculptures.
Waste to Wonder at Metropolis at Metrotown
When: August 8 to September 8, 2019 Where: The Grand Court at Metropolis at Metrotown (4700 Kingsway, Burnaby) Bid Online »
In addition to the exhibit, many special Waste to Wonder activities will be taking place in the Grand Court including a selfie station with an iconic Canadian beaver sculpture, artist demo / meet and greet, upcycle bracelet workshops, upcycle Kiehl’s workshop, plastics recycling drives, contest giveaways, and more.
The Waste to Wonder exhibit consists of five life-size sculptures of Canadian at-risk wildlife (the narwhal, orca, bison, grizzly, and caribou), each of them made from recycled flip flops. More than 6,500 flip flops in total were used, by Ocean Sole Africa, to make the sculptures, requiring 2,500+ hours of work by more than two dozen artists.
Why flip flops? In recent years, hundreds of thousands of discarded pairs of the synthetic-rubber sandals have been found worldwide in bodies of water and along shorelines. They often are made with non-recyclable materials, and contain chemicals that are harmful to humans, animals and plants. Ocean Sole Africa is a Kenya-based social enterprise that “upcycles” flip-flop waste and turns it into animal art sculptures. Ocean Sole Africa handcrafted the custom Waste to Wonder exhibit, the organization’s largest exhibit in the world to date. This and other Ocean Sole Africa projects not only create beautiful works of art, they promote conversation about environmental issues, as well as provide employment.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Check out #METWasteToWonder on now until Sept 8th and RT to enter to win a $500 @MetropolisAtMet gift card http://ow.ly/saUP30pjVtf” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
Follow Metropolis at Metrotown on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about their shops, services, and special events.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, August 16, 2019.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Review — Views and opinions are my own. This is not a paid post. I was a media guest of Vallea Lumina earlier this season. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
Pure wonder. That’s how I can describe my Vallea Lumina experience in Whistler. Eyes open wide, a smile on my face the whole time, and a soft “woah…” escaping my lips as I walked though the hauntingly whimsical world of Vallea Lumina. Lights, holograms, lasers, towering trees, rushing creeks, and a captivating adventure for almost 2 hours in the woods.
Vallea Lumina in Whistler
On the side of Cougar Mountain, it’s an attraction only accessible by shuttle bus (complimentary) from Whistler Village. You arrive at a base camp, with bluegrass songs on the loudspeaker, fires crackling, and lanterns swinging.
“Join an evening excursion and follow cryptic radio transmissions and the lingering traces of two long-ago hikers to find the scenic trailhead where the real journey begins… This pathway leads toward a place filled with beauty, and proof that the legends of Whistler are true.“
Morse code, a search for hikers, radio transmissions, and interactive light boards. The crunch of the trail under your feet, the darkness of the forest in front of you – suddenly illuminated by streaking lights and trance-like soundtrack. I didn’t know this type of attraction existed but I’ve made sure to tell everyone I know about it.
Vallea Lumina is open nightly until October, and booking in advance is highly recommended. Tickets are $39.99 for adults, $34.99 ages 6-15, and free for kids 5 and under.
The path is 1.5km through the forest, up some stairs, across some mountain terrain. I would plan for at least a 90 minute outing on the trails (with time to stop in awe and amazement, and to take photos) and 30 minutes for shuttle time. There is no parking on site so meet the shuttle ahead of your booking time at the Gondola Transit Exchange.
I love being out in the forest for a walk, with the aroma of cedar tickling my nose, and this was something really unique that provided an enhanced and enchanting twist to the Whistler experience.
Enjoy the best of every season all across the province with the BC Farmers’ Market Trail, a free and easy-to-use online resource where you can find over 145 markets across BC. The Trail is the most convenient way for people to find and buy local food and discover the best of what each community across has to offer.
Bulkley Valley Farmers’ Market in Smithers
Every season, over 4,000 local farmers and entrepreneurs attend farmers’ markets across the province to showcase the food and goods they’ve grown, made, baked, and raised. BC farmers’ markets are all about supporting the local economy – contributing over $150 million in economic benefits annually – with the markets serving as springboards for local farmers and makers to introduce their food and wares to their community.
This season, the BC Farmers’ Market Trail will expand to feature farmers’ markets in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Northern BC, Sunshine Coast, and Vancouver Island and Gulf Island regions, in addition to the Kootenay Rockies and Columbia Basin region in which it launched.
Now in its second year, the growth of the Trail reflects the desire amongst British Columbians to support the local economy through farmers’ markets, which contribute more than $150 million in economic benefits to the provincial economy annually.
Learn more about the BC Farmers’ Market Trail using the online tool or follow along this farmers’ market season on Facebook and Instagram.
