This summer’s free concerts on Thursday evenings in Boitanio Park will be kicking off once again on July 6, with a new look and even more diverse lineup.
“Arts and culture organizations are being asked to make our stages accessible in every way,” stated Venta Rutkauskas, Community Arts Council of Williams Lake Programs and ‘Performances’ Manager.
“We’ve done this through cultural content. We want to represent the community we serve. For example, we know we have an urban-Indigenous community making up almost 25 per cent of the city when considering our line up.”
Some renowned provincial First Nations artists will be performing including Saltwater Hank, and Kym Gouchie. Rutkauskas has also sought to expand diversity through hiring more women and LGBTQ2S+ and other equity-deserving performers.
Lilwat Nation’s The Spiritual Warriors and the Tsilqot’in Nation’s Clayton Charleyboy are also in this year’s lineup.
Beloved local acts Shannon O’Donovan, Cole Patenaude and the Screech Owls, Carmen Mutschele and Friends and Colin Easthope will also be performing this summer.
With the uncertainty of smoke and weather events, organizers have also secured a permanent back-up venue with the Cariboo Memorial Complex. When conditions are unfavourable for an outdoor performance in Boitanio Park at the Glen Ringwood amphitheatre, the event will shift seamlessly indoors to the rec complex.
“This is a big win for the event and the community, and will lead to fewer event cancelations,” says Melissa Nomandin, executive director for the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society.
The event is also going to be sporting new graphics, thanks to work by Sticks Marketing’s Jasmine Alexander. The new art work is aimed at “matching the natural beauty of the venue and the colourful community connections” organizers witness at the events said the press release.
The Performances in the Park free Thursday evening concerts are presented by the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society (CCACS), funded in part by the city of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District. The CCACS works with the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake for four years to produce the series, which is also supported by a number of local businesses and organizations.
This year’s acts will include performers from as far away as Toronto, Ontario and Melbourne, Australia. Each summer, the free concert series in the park draws hundreds to the natural amphitheatre to watch performers take to the Glen Ringwood stage on Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
READ MORE: Williams Lake reboots Performances in the Park for 2022
READ MORE: Williams Lake’s Performances in the Park concert series open for applications, sponsors
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