The 2017 ArtWalk in Williams Lake will carry on just not quite as planned.
Due to the wildfire situation, Arty the Art Walker Willie Dye says the ArtWalk, scheduled to begin today, Friday, Aug. 11 will be moved ahead a couple of weeks given the current wildfire situation.
The new dates for the Art Walk are Friday, Sept. 8 to Saturday Sept. 30.
Dye said the Williams Lake Harvest Fair and Quesnel Billy Barker Days events both had to be cancelled so it will be nice for the Williams Lake community to have something to look forward to this fall.
“I spoke with a lot of the artists, merchants and walkers this week and they are very, very happy that we will be going ahead with the Art Walk,” Dye said. “I think it is really, really important to show that life is going to go on in Williams Lake.”
He said a few of the artists lined up to participate in the Art Walk are unable to attend because they have other things planned for the new dates or have been impacted by the wildfires.
He said about four more artists are needed to make sure all 56 of the participating businesses can be matched with an artist.
He said a new feature for the Art Walk this year is that people will be able to check off their visits to the various businesses by scanning the business QR code on their smartphones.
Prizes including a grand prize are awarded for walkers visiting a given number of businesses during the Art Walk month.