For the love of water at the eighth annual Winlaw Water Festival
By Timothy Schafer
By Phil Larstone
Water, water everywhere and plenty of drops to drink.
It’s a mantra well known in the West Kootenays, but it isn’t one that is shared throughout the rest of the world.
But if you enjoy the pure, refreshing water that happily flows from mountain to ocean, throughout our lives and into our very cells, there may be a festival waiting for you.
If water calls you to gather and celebrate with friends and neighbours, rejoicing as the very melt waters swirl by and through us, then come to the Cedar Creek Café on Sunday May 1.
The eighth annual Winlaw Water Festival will inspire reverence and delight in the living waters of our dearest Earth, filling the day with family fun and great music, food, and folk.
The festival will open Sunday, May 1 at 11 a.m. with a children’s creativity corner, a silent auction, live music at the outdoor stage and water information displays and booths.
And then, at 3 p.m., the colourful parade to the river (Slocan) will be enjoined by hundreds of people adorned in costume and sporting banners, entering the flow created by the river.
To add to the wave of excitement, the grand unveiling of an informative and artistic watershed exhibit will take place during the festival.
The creation of the exhibit was a collaborative effort of local artists and watershed enthusiasts, funded by our local credit unions. It will be a permanent feature at the Cedar Creek Café in Winlaw, and will help educate newcomers and remind locals to appreciate and care for the precious ecosystems that are the source of our drinking water.
Last but not least, a juicy evening stage show showers the day with dancing to Shanti Groove, Heavy Shtetl and Juno-nominated, Slocan Valley resident Adham Shaikh.
And we have only our love for water to thank.
