The Nazko Arts and Music Festival is coming up again this March.
The fourth annual festival will take place at Nazko Valley Community Centre and will feature a visual arts display, music and performances and concessions.
Jon Wyminga and his wife Shannon Bell first started the festival as a way to better recognize artists in the community.
“We noticed, on our journeys through other communities, that they were much better at performing — and at profiling their artists — than our community,” says Wyminga.
“We were aware that there were a lot of artists in our community, but they don’t have [the same] profile.”
The festival was their solution to the issue. Bell organizes the visual artists, while Wyminga organizes the performers, and together, they pull the whole thing together.
The event is also sponsored by Nazko Valley Community Centre and the Cariboo Presbyterian Church.
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“The first year,” says Wyminga, “we thought we would have to supplement our performers and artists with people from outside of Nazko, because we didn’t think we would have enough locally. But it was — we were just amazed at how many people came forward [to participate].”
People from outside of the community also participate, but Wyminga says most of them are at least connected with the community in some way, or have roots in Nazko. He adds that they’re still open to having more artists and performers in the festival. Anyone interested can call or email Wyminga and Bell at 250-249-9669 or cariboopc@xplornet.ca.
Admission to the festival is free, and concessions will be the only thing that costs money. Wyminga says they may be collecting donations at the event, however.
The festival will take place on Saturday, March 2. The visual art display runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the music and performances will run from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Heather Norman
Community Reporter
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