DENMAN ISLAND READERS AND WRITERS FESTIVAL
Where: 1111 NW Rd., Denman Island
When: Friday to Sunday, July 19-21
Tickets: denmanislandwritersfestival.com
Why: The list of authors gathering for the three-day Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival is impressive, with several Giller Prize winners and finalists (including Winnipeg’s David Bergen, Vancouver’s Kevin Chong, and Calgary’s Will Ferguson) joining Stephen Leacock Medal winner Ian Ferguson of Victoria and six others for a full weekend of activity.
The picturesque event has become an annual highlight of the Western Canadian literary arts calendar, and includes everything from solo sessions and writing workshops to main stage events. Festival organizers brought Margaret Atwood to Denman Island in June, so there’s clearly something brewing here.
ISLANDS FOLK FESTIVAL
Where: 1843 Tzouhalem Rd., Duncan
When: Friday to Sunday, July 19-21
Tickets: $60-$125 daily from islandsfolkfestival.ca; $155 for a weekend pass
Why: It has been 40 years for the Islands Folk Festival, a summer staple in the Cowichan Valley and one of the last bastions of true folk music on Vancouver Island. This Providence Farm event is looking to return to its previous form this year, following some internal changes.
With appearances from Shooglenifty, Valdy, Ed Peekeekoot, James Keelaghan, Eugene Smith, and Big Little Lions, along with 18 others, the comeback is all but assured. One of the best sites on Vancouver Island will go a long way to helping the festival have a very successful 40th birthday.
THE LEE BOYS
Where: Hermann’s Jazz Club, 753 View St.
When: Thursday, July 18, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $35, hermannsjazz.com
Why: The gospel tradition that is sacred steel (which uses the pedal steel guitar as its building block) has a long and storied history, dating back to U.S. Pentecostal churches in the 1930s.
Miami group The Lee Boys added a chapter to the book after their father, a minister, taught some of his eight children how to summon the Holy Spirit through music. The rest is history as the group, now consisting of brothers and nephews from the Lee family tree, bring their electric sound to stages across the world, including Hermann’s Jazz Club on Thursday for a rare club appearance.
Note: The Lee Boys, who performed over the weekend at Courtenay’s Vancouver Island Music Festival, will also perform Friday at the Islands Folk Festival in Duncan.
