When the MV Lafferty ferry was shut down due to high water and debris on the Liard River, it looked like musicians and craftspeople might not make it for the June 30 Open Sky Festival – but then, at the last minute, it was put back in.
“Luckily for us, the ferry resumed travel on Friday (June 29) afternoon, which was just before the first of our musicians and artists were coming in,” said Roxanna Thompson with the Open Sky Creative Society.
“So, we had a backup plan that involved, of course, helicopter shuttles, but we didn't have to use it,” she said.
This year’s festival began with an opening ceremony on Thursday and then, “this year we decided to do one glorious day and really concentrate the festival,” she said.
The schedule for Saturday’s events was put together to allow individuals to make it to three workshops, shorter in length than previous years’, over the course of the day.
At the peak of the day, there were close to 140 people present, said Thompson, but people were coming in and out all day.
A handgames tournament being held next door meant that lots of out-of-towners were stopping by to check out the art and activity.
“Some of the highlights for me, of course, are seeing people enjoy interacting with the artists and particularly taking the workshops and learning about what goes into these art forms,” said Thompson.
In the moose hair tufting brooch workshop, for example, instructor Lucy Simon makes it look easy to make a beautiful brooch, but participants quickly find out the level of skill it takes.
Other workshops involved making birch bark bowls and ornaments, beaded hoop earrings, leather cellphone satchels, keychains, prints, as well as learning a bit of the fiddle – among many others.
Thompson said one of her favourite events was on the Japanese gyotaku fish print technique, led by Carielyn Jumbo.
“Who doesn’t love painting a fish?” said Thompson.
Three fish were caught out of Trout Lake and then special ink was applied to the fish, then special paper and when the paper was pulled off, participants had a print of the fish.
Dan and the Clan, Double Treble Fiddlers, Kiwi North, Jennifer Coleman and James Nowdlak all played music at the arbor.
The musicians were invited to stay on and play the next day at the village’s Canada Day festivities and Dan and the Clan as well as the Double Treble Fiddlers took them up on that offer.