More than 100 musical performances on nine stages featuring folk, hip-hop, electronic, world, pop, roots, jazz, country, and funk will be featured at the ArtsWells Festival of All Things Art coming up in Wells on the long weekend Aug. 3 to 6.
Many popular Williams Lake and area artists will be among those on stage in Wells this weekend.
Big Twang Daddy features Anne Smith on keyboards and vocals, Lyle Tribe on drums, and Tom Salley on guitar and vocals.
Cameron Catalano of Vancouver and formerly Williams Lake will present a rare showcase of songs he and his guitar have collected over the years.
Troy Forcier of Miocene and Brent Morton of Williams Lake will be there, Morton with his Drum and Bell Tower.
Collaborations abound. The Little Horsefly Country Band from Arts on the Fly festival in Horsefly earlier this month will also be in Wells. This country/honky-tonk group brings together sisters Pharis Romero and Marin Patenaude, Brent Morton, and Pharis’s husband Jason Romero.
Daughters of Blood and Bone represents another collaboration with Pharis and Patenaude teaming up with Melisa Devost and Linda McRae.
A three-time platinum album singer/songwriter McRae will also give a concert at the Bear’s Paw Cafe in Wells this Thursday, Aug. 2 introducing her latest album Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts.
Singer/songwriter Patenaude also performs solo during the festival.
Some of the 100-plus national and international musical entertainers include the Bidiniband from Toronto, Benny Walker from Australia, Aurora Jane from Australia, Crowd the Joanna of Kelowna, Party on High Street from Nelson, Selina Martin from Toronto, Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra from Victoria and many more.
ArtsWells also features workshops in music, theatre, dance, and visual arts.
There will be 20 different workshops to choose from on everything from beat-boxing to Ukrainian dance to lyric writing to laughter yoga and more.
Activities for kids include a crafting station, children’s stage and workshops geared to children.
The weekend includes the 12th International One Minute Play Festival, Ukulele Camp Aug. 1-2 and computer music camp Aug. 3. There will also be screenings of independent films as well as local theatre productions.
Wells will have a visual ArtWalk, artisans selling their wares and discounts on attractions such as the Barkerville Historic Town.
Island Mountain School of Arts runs longer arts workshops during July and August in a variety of disciplines from songwriting band camp to painting classes and more.
ArtsWells is a program of Island Mountain Arts, a non-profit arts organization based in Wells with board representation from around the region.
Established in 1977 with the Summer School of the Arts, the program now boasts a Public Art Gallery and Gift Shop, an International Harp School, the Toni Onley Artists’ Project and the award winning ArtsWells Festival of All Things Art.
The directors include president Yael Wand, vice-president Paul Crawford, treasurer Thomas Schoen, and directors Carl Johnson and Meghan McDermott.