Lyrids Folk Dance Festival
Lyrids Festival Experience
The Festival runs from Friday night to Sunday afternoon, with an optional after party. It is held in late April, during the Lyrid Meteor Shower. The committee worked hard to find a hall with capacity for at least 100 people to dance side-by-side on a sprung floor, in the Greater Vancouver area. The hall is located in the South Vancouver area within easy access to the Ferries (Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands), US border, accommodation, (hotels, motels, B&B) and shopping (Oakridge, Little India).
In the area where registration occurs, a market place has been set up with folksy clothing and items for sale, and on consignment sale.
Instruction starts Friday night with a few easy dances from each of the two teachers, continues to sessions in the morning and in the afternoon of Saturday and Sunday. The festival has hosted some drumming, singing, accordion, ensemble workshops as an alternative to learning dances from the teachers.
Catering (usually a non-profit social enterprise company) is contracted to provide a meal at lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and lunch on Sunday, in concert with the dance culture being presented. A snack is provided mid-morning and mid afternoon and during the Friday night and Saturday night parties. Clubs that attend the festival in sufficient numbers are asked to contribute to the snack, to the pleasure of everyone! Coffee and Tea are provided throughout the festival.
The Friday night party is done using recorded music. The dances are voted on by registrants prior to the event. Registrants can add to the list if their favourite is not there yet. The most requested dances are the ones used for recorded music throughout the festival. Recorded music is also played during snack breaks.
The Saturday night party is done to live music, usually a popular folk dance band from the US. During their breaks, recorded music is used. The teachers usually lead some of the dances they have been teaching, to tunes the band has learned especially for them.
In concert with the culture featured, the committee seeks out local groups for entertainment for an after dinner presentation prior to the party on Saturday night.
On Sunday, after the last teaching session and good-byes, the hall is cleared, and everything packed away, and the leader of our committee, Dale Adamson, has an after-party dinner and dance at her home in Surrey. At all of our festivals, she has arranged video recording of the festival and has produced a comprehensive DVD of the entire event, for participants to purchase and enjoy.
Story of the Founding
The Lyrids Folk Dance Festival is a continuation of the wonderful Salt Spring Island Folk Dance Festival organized by Rosemarie Keough for 10 years from 2004 to 2013.
The Salt Spring Island festival was timed to be as close as possible to April 29th, the “UNESCO International Dance Day“. Each year, a number of dance enthusiasts from near and far gathered to enjoy the festival’s warm fellowship and Salt Spring Island’s rural charm. You can still enjoy these festivals on DVD. During the 10 years, dances were taught by Mihai David, Roo Lester, Alexandru David, John Campbell, Lee Otterholt, Hilde Otterholt, Tom Bozigian, Andy Taylor-Blenis, Sonia Dion, Cristian Florescu, Jerry Duke, Roberto Bagnoli, Zeljko Jergan, Richard Schmidt, Iliana Bozhanova, France Bourque-Moreau, and Yves Moreau.
The Burnaby International Folk Dancers, among the many dancers who travelled to the festival year after year, were unable to contemplate the end to such a magical event. So that the festival spirit might continue, these dancers decided to bring the festival to Burnaby, next to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Why Lyrids?
The April Lyrids are a meteor shower occurring in April, also called April’s shooting stars. These meteors tend to be bright and often leave trails. The radiant point of the Lyrid meteor shower is near the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp. The similar sounding word “Lyric” derives from the Greek word λυρικός (lyrikos), meaning “singing to the lyre”. Of course, the constellation Lyra represents the lyre, an ancient stringed musical instrument.
Reviews
Review of Lyrids Festival in Lets Dance magazine 2014-07
Review of Lyrids 2014 in NFDI Newsletter