Arts, Culture, and Festivals
Central Vancouver Island and the Comox Valley is undoubtedly a rich source of natural world awe, you need only peer from your car window at soaring peaks and an evergreen tapestry to feel a sense of the scale and aura of this area of British Columbia. What so often goes hand in hand with this super, natural environment is the vivid impact that it impresses on the human mind. Art, culture, and free spirited expression is the human outcome to this ancient and sacred wild environment. Visually and soulfully, artistic expression is a mirror and filter for this landscape.
The central island, and Comox Valley area particularly, is host to a thriving arts community that numbers in its hundreds. The pure amount of people creating art, on any scale, that call this coastline home is astounding. With a rich scene, and an eager audience, including the many visitors that enjoy our home, it’s no wonder there are enclaves of artists littered along the region. Particularly, the old island highway, 19A, that hugs the coastline, (sometimes only metres from the shoreline), provides hidden gems time and again. Galleries, studios, and workshops are sewn into the fabric of these small seaside communities, often concealed and set back from the bustle. There’s, of course, the larger and well established local art institutions to explore too, these serve to shine a spotlight on individual creators.
Comox Valley Art Gallery
Cultural experiences also plug into the wider arts communities with notable events and programs that align with indigenous education and spirituality. In the Comox Valley time is taken to honour and learn about the K'ómoks First Nation and their ancestry that has long called this land their home. Engage with important workshops that explore and educate, that are held by Elders.
Music and crafts are other irreplaceable strands to the Valley’s scene. With an expanding number of festivals to mark the calendar with, there’s something always on the horizon to look forward to. The three communities of the Valley; Comox, Courtenay and Cumberland, along with their smaller coastal counterparts, play host to celebrations of life and culture, each event different from the other.
I-Hos Gallery
Spirits of the West Coast Art Gallery
Local Artists Shine Year On Year - The CV Arts Central Island Studio Tour
Every year the talents of numerous artists that run the length of the central island region showcase their art. The event is organized by CV Arts, a community council based here in the Comox Valley, owned and operated by local artists that advocate for emerging artists in the area, giving all-important space and time to their work. The tour is called the Central Island Arts Guide & Studio Tour, and although this year’s event has recently passed us by (we hope you were able to get to a showing) the wide reaching initiative happens annually, so there’s ample time to find the artists’ work online and begin your planning to get involved in 2024. Or better still - plan a trip to a gallery or studio this season.
The CV arts guide itself is an invaluable asset for any art lover looking to enjoy the region, a one stop resource to find all the various creators no matter how small their operation. The studio tour acts as a gateway to the guide, showcasing many of the artists on one weekend, with a chance to meet them, glean some inspiration from their works, and maybe purchase a new piece.
To understand what the tour represents for the local community and its contributors, we contacted Jenny Casey, the executive director of CV Arts, for an explanation. Jenny excitedly explained:
‘The Studio Tour is a celebration of the arts and cultural richness in the Central Island. The weekend is an important event for artists to showcase work and unite together as a network. We want to show residents and visitors our tremendous arts and cultural presence and provide artists a chance to share their talent. We know it will be a fantastic event and look forward to seeing the community out there!’
With local artists plying their talents in a number of mediums up and down the coastline there’s something for everybody.
Some of our team were lucky enough to attend one featured studio exhibition, held by the Wet Paint Art Group, along the beautiful stretch of local coastline between Saratoga Beach and Williams Beach. The setting was gorgeous, with dappled sunlight moving through the trees overhead onto works’ shown on the patio of a beautiful home, converted into a gallery. The collective of painters includes Lesley Rieck, Elaine Prodor, and Jenny Mitchell, to name a few. They formed in 2013 as a group of friends that live locally to one another and share a passion for creating art. The art group has shown at the McMillan Centre in Parksville, the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River, and the Pearl Ellis Gallery in Comox. It was a wonderful snippet of an afternoon, with abstract mixed media on canvas pieces, vibrant hanging displays that played with the light breeze, and coastal wildlife inspired pieces. Time was also spent chatting to the artists and learning their various inspirations and techniques.
Other studios that featured on the tour, which remain open year round and are thoroughly worth a visit, include the Compass Gallery in Comox, ARTWRX in Courtenay, and Mabel Ceramics in Cumberland.
K'ómoks First Nation Arts
Learning and supporting the crafts and artists of the K'ómoks First Nation ought to be on everyone’s agenda. The authentic indigenous art available at the I-Hos Gallery enthralls and humbles in equal measures. Situated in the historic ancestral K'ómoks village adjacent to the big house and overlooking the tidal estuary, this much loved fixture presents collections of traditional and contemporary Northwest Coast artwork. You will find an array of masks, prints, wood carvings, gold and silver jewelry, and more. Colour, shape and cultural stories are all portrayed through the various pieces available in this impressive building.
If you’d like to take a step further in your support and jubilation of indigenous culture, the K'ómoks Festival marks the celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 22. The event welcomes newcomers and takes place at the Puntledge RV Campground on Condensory Road, Courtenay. This is an exciting free family-friendly event complete with drumming, dancing, storytelling, carving, a kids zone, and entertainment. It’s a truly inclusive community event to ritualize the importance of all the first nations of the area.
I-Hos Gallery
Festival Days in The Comox Valley
The start of spring heralds the beginning of the outdoor festival season, and the Comox Valley proves to be an exceptional place to experience a series of festivals that pride themselves on their distinctly different personalities. It seems every taste is catered to in one way or another, with music rightly the focus, but food, crafts and performing arts given plenty of prominence too.
Vancouver Island Music Festival was started in 1995 and has risen to become one of Canada’s most recognizable and loved roots and folk festivals. It runs July 14-16 and offers an impressive 6 stages, each with a varying personality to enjoy. VI Music Fest is more than simply guitar licks and harmonica harmonizing, as with all good folk fests you’ll find jam sessions, workshops, song circles, and concerts. Canadian favourite Sarah MchLachlan is the festival’s headline act, but the delight is in the details with industry acclaimed smaller acts generating excitement such as Al Qahwa and Blue and Gold to look forward to. The 3 day event takes place on Headquarters Road, Courtenay, by the Curling Rink with on site camping available for weekend pass holders.
Nautical Days
Filberg Fest
Comox sees a bumper weekend for August 4-7, with two festivals to choose from, depending on your persuasion Nautical Days takes place at the spacious and centrally located Marina Park, whilst a little way away centred around the historic Filberg lodge is the Filberg Fest. Both are pristine days for memorable family fun.
Nautical Days is celebrating its 65th year and, as the name suggests, focuses on the seaside nature of Comox as a community. This free event showcases a parade that runs through the town’s downtown, a vintage car show, as well as many food trucks and various music artists ranging from folk, world music, pop, and blues.
Filberg Fest proudly embraces the stately setting of its historic landscaped garden and heritage lodge. The festival runs 4-6 August and features over 100 artisans of crafts, arts and speciality foods. Music is a big part too with emerging Canadian artists given a platform alongside established artists.
Cumberland Wild may just be the most eclectic festival from this selection. This well seasoned event hails plaudits from all over British Columbia, if not Canada, with lineups that pull bigger than imagined names, and a haul of festivities that rival larger events. The festival is helped by the independent nature of the setting, with Cumberland’s proud creative streak given a weekend to showcase its flare. Artists are booked from all over the world, and range from synth drenched pop, folk, world music, electronica, bass heavy DJ sets, indie, and more. With a raft of talent to pick through, the one-stage-three-shows per night format is a big hit.
Whether you’re simply arts-curious or a wise culture-leach, there’s something for everybody in the Comox Valley at this time of year. And with a small amount of planning it’s possible to satisfy the keenest creatives.