The rain didn’t stop the first campers, visitors, and artists from making the first day of the ArtsWells Festival feel like it had never left.
The Festival makes its return to the community after a six-year hiatus. With a welcoming ceremony thanking all the founders who started the festival back in 2004, to everyone who worked hard putting together this year’s festival.
“It feels great to have it back,” says Ed Coleman, the Mayor of the District of Wells. “It’s got a good vibe to the start of it, moving it to this Canada Day, Dominion Day long weekend, it’s working well already.”
The opening ceremony took place in one of Wells’ newly constructed buildings, the outdoor log Community Forest Stage, a brand new addition to the town. The ceremony started promptly at 6 pm ‘Wells Time’. Everyone was excited and happy to be back.
The Festival will span the weekend with dozens of artists from around the province and country performing in the historic buildings of Wells.
“Island Mountain Arts, Elyssia Sasaki, has done this so well since 2004, they know how to tap into whole music and arts industry,” Coleman says. “It is remarkable the talent that gets here, and we get the benefit as a community.”
Coleman adds that just on the first evening of the festival, he’s already met people from the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Saskatchewan, on top of people from south of the province who made the journey up to Wells.
After the ceremony, the festival goers had a chance to walk around Wells, and find the other venue locations, before Mivule took to the Community Forest Stage to perform.
A full list of the artists, games, venues, and more can be found on ArtsWells’ website.
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