When I lived in the more wintery parts of Canada, winter festivals at this time of the year were all the rage.
During those long, dark and cold months after Christmas and before spring, people tend to get down and depressed, so anything that could get them out of the doldrums and have some outdoor fun was always a welcome relief.
At my high school, a whole week was set aside every February for a winter carnival called Spirit Week in which there were no classes and everything was geared toward having fun in the snow; like participating in snow-sculpture competitions, hockey games and toboggan races.
I recall that few students stayed home sick that week, regardless if they were or not, for fear of missing any of the activities.
The prime requirement for Spirit Week, of course, was snow, but that was rarely a problem at this time of year in those places.
Unfortunately, other than the usual quick blast of Arctic-type weather that we typically get around Christmas each year that is almost always gone within a week or two, having snow in February or March is not a common occurrence on Vancouver Island, so there’s few of the regular-type of winter festivals to be found here.
Of course, the Association des francophones de Nanaimo does have its annual Maple Sugar Festival each March in Nanaimo, but the snow in which the fresh maple syrup is placed to harden at that event usually has to be trucked in.
What we do have here is rain in the winter months, and lots of it, so the Duncan Cowichan Festival Society and its iconic artistic director Longevity John Falkner have decided to embrace it and provide the community with a unique west coast kind of winter festival appropriately called RainFest, which will be held in Duncan from Feb. 18-27.
The society is the same one that hosts the popular annual 39 Days of July event in Duncan each summer that draws people here from all over Vancouver Island and beyond to socialize and listen to good live music, so you can be sure the 10-day event will be very entertaining.
When I met Longevity John (minus his half beard) at Duncan City Square, where most of the musical acts at the festival will play, to discuss RainFest, he said the society hopes that Duncan will lead by example and when other Vancouver Island communities see how successful a winter carnival that embraces rain can be, they will start their own and then each festival can share the artists that perform at them.
Longevity John has long been well known across Vancouver Island and beyond as a musical guru, and the organizational skills that he and the society put into every event they are behind are legendary, so I’ve no doubts that RainFest will be as popular as the 39 Days of July once it’s established.
Dozens of musical acts will be on stage mainly at Duncan City Square and at the Duncan Showroom during the 10-day festival, and Family Day on Feb. 21 will see many family-friendly activities in City Square, and there will be a fun parade through the streets of Duncan on the festival’s last day on Feb. 27.
The vast majority of the RainFest’s events and venues will be free to attend, other than a couple of “intimate” shows at the Duncan Showroom for some higher profile acts.
It should be a lot of fun and people and families will have an opportunity to get out of the house and check out some great acts.
Local businesses will also love it as the downtown streets should see a lot more people moving about than is usual at this time of year.
And, yes, Longevity John said large tents will be set up in City Square as required to deal with inclement weather.
So, get out there folks and enjoy our own unique kind of winter festival.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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