The Four Directions Festival will replace the street party that has traditionally taken place in conjunction with the annual Williams Lake Stampede.
The Downtown Williams Lake Business Improvement Association which hosts the event held a contest to name the new festival.
Eleven people entered the contest and the festival committee chose the name Four Directions Festival that was submitted by Virginia (Geni) Mack-Laurie, says BIA executive director Kate Lines.
“Four Directions is a strong First Nations motif that celebrates how our differences come together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of our parts,” Lines said Monday.
“This is exactly what we want to celebrate with the festival. Our community is made up of so many different cultures and special interests. When we celebrate together we are all enriched. We can experience ourselves as the larger unique and multifaceted Cariboo culture, with downtown Williams Lake as our shared Cariboo culture hub.”
In the contest which ran from March 1 to 31, Lines says the community was challenged to imagine what they would name a festival that celebrates the community’s future and includes four closed streets of walkable fun that will start at noon July 1 right after the Stampede Parade and continue until 9 p.m. in the evening.
Key features of the festival include outdoor dining, mural making, chalk artists, an out-of-this-world kids zone, multicultural tents, three live music stages, a lehal tournament, square dancing, buskers, a makers market, artists, photo scavenger hunts, international village multicultural tents, and more, Lines says.
She says downtown businesses are very excited about “turning inside/out for the festival.”
For example, Satya Yoga will teach yoga in front of their door on Oliver Street.
Adventure Games will host video and board game drop ins in front of their store on Second Avenue.
The Metis Association will be celebrating Metis culture in front of their office on Oliver Street.
The Potato House will be hosting a beer garden in their vegetable garden.
“We want to invite tourists and locals to put on their walking shoes, ride their bikes, get on their roller blades and move through downtown streets and alleys in a whole new way ... sans cars,” Lines says.
“We’ll have music and arts and adventures around every corner to inspire and delight, and warm the heart.”
She said contestants entering names for the festival were asked to write down their festival name idea and send it to the BIA with a photo of themselves holding the paper with the name on it.
“Some really great ideas came in,” Lines says. “You can see them on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
“A big thank-you to all the people who submitted their ideas.”