The Comox Valley Arts’ summer Pulse on the Plaza Festival series kicked off in downtown Courtenay on June 26.
The first Pulse on the Plaza event was a preview of the annual three-day K’omoks Fusion Festival in September.
The June 26 event was a partnership between Comox Valley Arts and the Queneesh Indigenous Society featuring performers from K’omoks First Nation as well as other cultural groups in the area such as Cumbia dancers from the Raíces Mestizas Collective.
The event was the first of three in this year’s free Pulse on the Plaza series, which continues with the Inner Space/Outer Space festival on July 24 and a Pride Party in late August.
Jennifer Casey, executive director of Comox Valley Arts, said that the fusion of cultures was the “secret sauce” of the event’s success.
As the organizers were setting up in the plaza outside the Comox Valley Art Gallery, the wind was so strong that it took six people to hold down a tent.
“By the time the event started, the clouds parted and the sun came out, and so did the community,” Casey said.
She said that the idea of holding the Pulse festival in downtown Courtenay was that it was “the real heartbeat of downtown.”
The festival featured music by Nanaimo-based blues artist James Vickers and Wei Wai Kum singer-songwriter Greg Wells, with cedar weaving, storytelling and beadmaking workshops.
The Comox Valley Art Gallery also provided a pop-up listening lounge and had kids creating art on the sidewalk with chalk.
Casey said the festival is “very family oriented” as the city has a lot of families.
“Every year, we see tons of families come out,” she said.
One of the most popular stops was a salmon BBQ being served up by the Queneesh Indigenous Society that people lined up to enjoy.
The next event in the Pulse on the Plaza festival series is Inner Space/Outer Space on July 24, which will feature music by Nanaimo’s Collective Echos (Trip Hop, Funk, Dub and Reggae), Cowichan Valley’s Cheko and the Positive Rebellion (roots reggae), SoupDope and Neighborly.
An “instrument petting zoo” will provide kids an opportunity to get familiar with musical instruments, alongside participatory mural painting. The Comox Valley Art Wagon will also be there, according to Casey.
A Pride Party will be held as part of the Pulse on the Plaza series on Aug. 28 in partnership with Queer Centre Comox Valley. Woodstove Festival fan-favourite Devours and Cumberland’s skate punk band Mean Bikini are opening for Vancouver’s Queer as Funk.
The Pulse festivals operate on what Casey said is a tiny budget of $25,000 for the three events this summer with a grant of $9,000 from the Comox Valley Community Foundation.
Casey said the organization needs more funding for the event series. “It’s all off the side of our desk.”
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