British Columbia Magazine

History and art will mingle this weekend in the historic Cariboo gold-rush town of Barkerville and neighbouring community of Wells (featured in our Fall 2007 issue). The ArtsWells Festival, dubbed the “festival of all things art,” features everything from music, to film and ballet, to drumming, puppetry, stilt walking, and a whole slew of varied artistic disciplines in between. Take in concerts and performances, participate in workshops, peruse artisans’ wares, poke around Barkerville’s mining-era buildings — there are plenty of interesting options to occupy your August long weekend.

ArtsWells — which was recently named one of Canada’s top ten music festivals by CBC Radio 3 — runs July 30 to August 2nd, 2010. See www.artswells.com for more information.

The British Columbia Magazine team will be appearing at some exciting events in Vancouver and Victoria this weekend. Stop by and see us for valuable tips, travel ideas . . . and FREEBIES!

Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show
Saturday April 24 and Sunday April 25, VANCOUVER
Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place, West Building

British Columbia Magazine will join 300 other exhibitors promoting outdoor adventure and recreational pursuits at the very popular annual Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show. Visit our booth (#209) and be the first to check out our new Survivor Bonus Offer. For only $20.00 you’ll receive a one-year subscription and your pick between a coveted, flashy red, limited-edition, British Columbia Magazine multi-tool and our stylish new sling bag. Plus we’ll throw in a checklist on how to correctly pack a backpack for all of your springtime adventures!

And for inspiration on where to venture in the province, pick up a complimentary copy of British Columbia Magazine.

Click on the image below and print your complimentary 2-for-1 admission coupon. Regular ticket price is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and youth 12-17, free for children under 11.

Chapters bookstores Read Local, Buy Local Earth Day events
Sunday April 25, 12:00 p.m., Chapters at 1212 Douglas Street, VICTORIA
Sunday April 25, 12:00 p.m., Chapters at 788 Robson Street, VANCOUVER
Sunday April 25, 3:00 p.m., Chapters at 2505 Granville Street, VANCOUVER

Get your family ready for their hiking adventures! British Columbia Magazine teams up with ActNow, The North Face (Vancouver), and Robinson’s Outdoor Store (Victoria) to teach children what they need to know about the sport. Topics covered during this free event will include how to stretch properly, how to prepare a healthy lunch, and how to pack a backpack. Audience members will receive a bonus surprise giveaway.

The Spring 2010 issue will be available for sale at the event. See our feature article on “Kootenays: 4 treks, 4 seasons” for great ideas on where to go for your next hiking adventure!

–Katie Knox

Wondering what to give this year to the person who has everything? How about the entire province of British Columbia—neatly wrapped inside the covers of British Columbia Magazine.

Order online (www.bcmag.ca) or by phone (1-800-663-7611) for stress-free holiday shopping. Let our customer representatives  set up gift subscriptions for your friends and relatives, with your personalized message going out on every copy.

We also have a Holiday Gift Pack, for those who like to put a gift under the tree. The Holiday Gift Pack includes one copy of British Columbia Magazine and our 13-month scenic 2010 Wall Calendar for you to give NOW, and a certificate entitling your recipient to a full year of British Columbia Magazine—including a second scenic Wall Calendar for 2011!

You can purchase our Holiday Gift Packs in person this weekend at the West Coast Christmas Marketplace, at the Fraser Valley Trade & Exhibition Centre on 1190 Cornell Street in Abbotsford.  Tel: 604-850-1533 or 1-866-853-1533.

Hours are:

Friday, Nov. 27, 12 noon to 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 28, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Save $2 on adult admission prices for the West Coast Christmas Marketplace by ordering advance tickets online: www.christmasshow.eat-vancouver.com/info_ticket.html

British Columbia Magazine will be just one of dozens of exhibitors at the marketplace, which features holiday decor, gifts, food, celebrity stage presentations, live music, and a maze of decorated Christmas trees.

The zany artist behind this vegetable creation—which debuted in the Zucchini 500 at Saltspring Island’s fall fair last weekend—is none other than Susan Rybar, former director of publication at British Columbia Magazine. She and her son Kje fashioned their pirate ship to race in the fun annual event, profiled in “Zucchinis on wheels” in our Fall 2008 issue.

“The design started simply with what we could scavenge from around the house. The wheels were the only ones we had,” says Rybar. “I thought it would be good to put something on the front and found the ‘aerodynamic’ corn-cob holders, which reminded me of the mermaids at the front of pirate ships (a bit of a stretch, I know), which led me into our Lego collection where I found the crow’s nest and skeleton crew.”

Stylish looks may not equal great performance, as it turns out. In the practice run on the steeply inclined racetrack, the pirate ship blew a wheel at the halfway mark, finishing last.

Here are just a few reasons why you shouldn’t miss The Word on the Street book and magazine festival this Sunday, September 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Vancouver’s Library Square.

GET GREAT STUFF.

MEET COOL MAGAZINE PEOPLE.

LAUGH AT COMEDIANS.

SUPPORT LITERACY.

ATTEND AUTHOR READINGS.

What’s more . . .  British Columbia Magazine staff will be on site with loads of goodies and our giant Magazine Prize Wheel. We attract crowds every year with our $1 spin-to-win offer, and all proceeds go to the Raise-a-Reader program. We’ll have collector’s issues, magnets, posters, tote bags, T-shirts, and more to give away!

Other special deals of the day:

* 2 YEARS FOR THE PRICE OF 1. Purchase a one-year subscription to British Columbia Magazine, and we’ll give you the second year for FREE! Two years for just $20—and you’ll also get a FREE copy of our Summer 2009 50th-anniversary collector’s issue.

* 5 FOR $5 GRAB BAGS: Snap up one of our British Columbia Magazine tote bags filled with five assorted collector’s issues for just $5.

Don’t miss this fun, annual celebration of the written word. Look for the tents along Hamilton and Homer streets and around the library building.

Every four years, salmon runs on the Horsefly River reach a cyclical peak. 2009 is the year we’ve been waiting for, and folks in the Cariboo community of Horsefly are marking the occasion with a festival on September 5 and 6.

While recent news about British Columbia’s declining salmon stocks has been bleak, Horsefly hopes to welcome home a million spawning sockeye this fall. Education is the focus of activities planned for the weekend, with information about water quality and aquatic invertebrates, as well as fish-dissection demonstrations.

Gutting fish not your idea of a good time? There will also be musical entertainment, a potluck, and a family square dance.

It takes the sockeye approximately 28 days to journey from the Pacific Ocean up the Fraser River, then along the Quesnel River to the mouth of the Horsefly River and its spawning grounds. Only 15 to 50 percent of the adult fish that set out on the 760-kilometre journey survive past the commercial fishing areas of the lower Fraser.

For more on the Horsefly River, see our Fall 2008 story “Protecting B.C. with TLC” (full article online here.)

For details on the Horsefly River Salmon Festival, visit www.horseflyriver.ca. There’s even an online video so you can see what it’s all about.

If you’re looking to grab a last bit of summer fun before fall sets in, it’s not too late to take in Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition. The annual fair runs through the Labour Day weekend, and if you visit between September 5 and 7, keep a lookout for the friendly folks from British Columbia Magazine.

At our booth in front of the Pacific Coliseum, we’ll be giving away FREE copies of the magazine, while supplies last (they’re going fast)! And for just $1 you can spin the British Columbia Magazine Prize Wheel for a chance to win posters, magnets, collector’s issues, hats, T-shirts, and other exciting prizes. Every spin is a guaranteed winner!

Stop by and say “hello”—we’d love to see you!

Contributed by Heather Ramsay

At the Midsummer Music Festival in Smithers, fans get a bonus with their music fix: extra elbowroom and the opportunity to mingle with the musicians.

Perhaps 2,000 people convene for the Smithers songfest each year—a fraction of the 30,000 or so that crowd the better-known Vancouver Folk Festival on the Lower Mainland. At one of the first shows in 1984 or 1985, the Smithers audience was so small that everyone simply moved onto the covered stage and sat cross-legged around the band when a rainstorm hit, recalls organizer George Stokes.

Audience members can often be found sharing food in the hospitality tent with such musical greats as American bluesman Taj Mahal, Canadian folk guitarist James Keelaghan, and the Be Good Tanyas bluegrass trio, or joining the pros for nighttime jam sessions around the campfire. Some artists, including Toronto fiddle star Oliver Schroer and Whitehorse-based singer Kim Barlow, find their experience in Smithers so invigorating that they come back year after year.

The mountain community has even produced a few headliners of its own: Juno-award winner Alexis Puentes, folk singer/songwriter Mark Perry, and bluegrass performer Jenny Lester, among others.

From the Midsummer Music Festival in Smithers,  enthusiasts can follow a circuit of intimate, outdoor summer music festivals hosted in northern B.C. communities. Plan a trip to take in some or all of the following events:

* Midsummer Music Festival (www.bvfms.org), June 26 to 28, 2009, Smithers.

* Crab Fest (www.crabfest.ca), July 2 and 3, 2009. Rocks the Nisga’a community of Gingolx, perched at the mouth of the mighty Nass River, north of Terrace.

* Atlin Arts and Music Festival (www.atlinfestival.ca), July 10 to 12, 2009, combines music with other performance and visual arts on the shores of Atlin Lake.

* Kispiox Valley Music Festival (www.kispiox.com), July 24 to 26, 2009, on the grassy banks of the Kispiox River, northeast of Prince Rupert.

* Edge of the World Music Festival (www.edgefestival.com), August 7 to 9, 2009, at the cedar-fringed Tlell Fairgrounds on east Graham Island, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).

Our former editorial intern, Meghan Stothers, is the poster girl for Victoria’s Bike to Work Week this month. Meghan was the model cycling commuter while on staff with us, earning frequent fashion kudos for cycling to work in stylish skirts and heels. Meghan appears in the poster below with her daughter and a colleague at her new job with the Ministry of Environment.

Cycling commuters in close to 20 communities across the province will get into gear for Bike to Work Week, May 11 to 17. As of May 7, more than 530 teams had registered to participate in the Victoria event.

Bike to Work Week promotes cycling and the many benefits of two-wheeled travel, including reduced traffic congestion and pollution, and improved personal health. “Celebration stations” with food and drinks are part of the fun.

In June, Vancouver cyclists can become part of an installation at the Vancouver Museum entitled “Velo-City, Vancouver and the Bicycle Revolution.” The photographic exhibition, running June 4 to September 7, will explore “Vancouver’s human-powered revolution that’s changing the way people experience and relate to the city, their neighbourhoods, and to their own bodies.” Submit a photo of yourself and your ride online and answer a few questions to join the revolution.

Start spreading the news…British Columbia Magazine’s “The lure of Tatlayoko,” published in our Fall 2008 issue, has won the top prize for magazine article at the 12th annual Northern Lights Awards for excellence in travel journalism. The feature was written by Vancouver-based contributor J.B. MacKinnon.

The awards, recently presented at the Waldorf=Astoria hotel in New York, recognize excellence in North American travel writing and photography. MacKinnon and British Columbia Magazine editor Anita Willis travelled to New York to accept the award. The Northern Lights awards are sponsored by the Canadian Tourism Commission.