The Hope and District Arts Council is proud to present their upcoming Free Summer Concerts in the Park for the 2015 summer season. For all music and outdoors lovers the concerts will be held at the Bandshell in Memorial Park most Saturdays from July 4th through to August 22nd at 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Upon the need to bring music and culture to the area of Hope, the concerts were established with the help of funding from a multitude of contributors including the Province, the District of Hope, FVRD, the B.C. Arts Council, ArtsBC, Pharmasave, Buy & Save, Envision and MNP.
Hard working volunteers have spent countless hours striving for perfection with limited resources, while a plethora of local talent have allowed for the township of Hope to enjoy a lot of culture on a limited budget.
“It offers the opportunity for the community to experience a variety of live musical performances. It’s good for seniors or people who are not able to travel to places like Chilliwack to see a show,” said Diane Ferguson, Hope & District Arts Council, Executive Director. It’s a good opportunity — it’s good for the town and for tourism.
The uniqueness of the free concerts is that it allows a myriad of local talent to showcase the beauty of their work in an extraordinary setting (home,) according to Ferguson, who proudly admits that there are a lot of amazing homegrown musicians. The council also tries to bring in performers from outside the community when possible.
Gerald Charlie and Black Owl Blues Band from Lake Erroch are slated as the first group to be featured on Saturday, July 4th and will be singing their trademark bluesy sound, following a traditional First Nations welcome to start off the Free Summer Concerts in the Park in an honorable and commemorative fashion. For all interested parties and for more information, please contact 604-869-3400 or hopearts@telus.net and come on down to enjoy an entertaining afternoon. Donations will be collected to help support the concerts for future summer days to come.