Williams Lake was alive with the sound of cackling on Sunday, Oct. 2 for the first ever Witches on Williams Lake paddle event.
Around 30 witches and warlocks gathered at the Scout Island beach, putting down brooms and picking up their paddles to get out on the lake.
A spell was cast to provide protection and bless the water before they headed out to celebrate the change of seasons.
Participants were enjoying an unseasonably warm October evening to take part in Natalie Swift’s master plan to create more community around paddling in the town. The witches and warlocks came out on paddleboards, in kayaks and even two in a canoe.
Swift had started SUP in the Puddle earlier this year, an online paddleboarding group with a Facebook Page which meets up to enjoy paddling and share knowledge around the sport of stand up paddleboarding (SUP).
She had heard about group witchy paddles in other places and threw out the idea to do one Oct. 2 by creating an event on Facebook. The event then gained some interest online, especially after an article in the Tribune was shared 100 times with 88 comments on the original post.
Swift partnered up with TULA Yoga and SUP, which offered some free classes to the best dressed warlock and witch, and with other sponsors, she had a number of prizes which were awarded for best cackle, best decorated watercraft, and as draw prizes for participants.
Witches and warlocks were also given the opportunity to donate to Scout Island Nature Centre’s work as a show of appreciation for the facility and the work it does.