2023 is shaping up to be a pretty good season for the historic town of Barkerville.
Stewart Cawood, the Manager of Public Programming and Media, says they are on pace to surpass last year’s attendance total.
He says they are hoping that the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, their last big event of the season, will get them over the hump.
“This is our 23rd year of doing it and that will be happening on September 9th. That day has all sorts of games and trivia contests, moon cakes, lantern making workshops, there is a special evening performance showcasing Chinese culture at the Theatre Royal, which will be followed by a lantern parade down our main street.”
Cawood says their season will then close the following day on September 10th.
He says highlights from this year include their second year of having the interpreters out on the street performing at the Theatre Royal.
“It’s a lot of work, but a lot of passion goes into it, and this year’s show I think was even better than last year’s show. We saw great audiences coming into the theatre averaging about 90 people a day. Yesterday (Thursday) was a sold out show which we were very excited about, so if we can keep those numbers up it just continues to help support the historic site and pay for all of the wonderful programs that people love.”
Cawood says attendance has been very steady all year and they had a sell out yesterday when around 100 seniors were bused up for the day.
He says the seniors visit was another highlight.
There were 136 people out. There was about 100 seniors and then the volunteers and support staff that came with them. It was really nice to see the streets absolutely full, they were in great spirits having an awesome day, going around shopping and taking in the scenes and programs.”
Cawood says they also just finished their Indigenous Peoples celebrations this past weekend.
“We also had a really good turnout for that, and it was just a beautiful weekend highlighting the wonderful Indigenous cultures that are in the surrounding regions We had guests from all over British Columbia joining us, telling stories, sharing their dances and songs.”
Cawood says the wildfires in the province were once again a challenge this year, but all in all, he says they are trending in the right direction when it comes to getting back to pre-COVID attendance numbers.
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