Bigger, Better CelticFest 2005 Plans Already Underway
By WARREN PURCHASE
CeticFest Founder, Director and Artistic Director
VANCOUVER - CelticFest 2004 was a great success on many levels. Granville Street came alive with CelticFest banners on the street light posts, posters and displays in store windows, outdoor and indoor entertainment, dances, workshops and the friendliest aura around all the Celts and non_Celts who attended the festival.
VISITORS FROM EDMONTON taking part in CelticFest 2004 and all the St. Patrick’s activities were Catherine and Rosemarie Garvey.
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Over 30,000 people came down to Granville Street over the six days with gatherings ranging from 30 people at the Robbie Burns discussion, 250 people at the Big Craic, 500 people per event at the TD Plaza outdoor stage, 800 people at the Commodore and 20,000 people at the Parade.
The Parade was an overwhelming success and attracted all age groups. Everyone was in a great mood with kids, teens, adults and the elderly all mingling together having a great time. How often can we say this in our society today?
Can you believe we painted a green line down Granville Street? This would not have been possible without the support of the city. The Vancouver City Council and all the city departments involved are to be highly commended for getting behind their word and allowing Vancouver to become the Funcouver we all knew it was. A special thanks to Mayor Campbell and everyone on the council for their support.
The entertainment at the various venues was well received with sold out shows and well attended free shows. By all accounts the local talents of the west coast Celtic artists, writers, performers, dancers and musicians were highly praised. This is definitely something to build on for the years to come.
The festival will begin planning CelticFest 2005 in the near future and needs sponsors in order to expand and improve the festival. Thanks to all our present in_kind sponsors and individual efforts, without you we would not be able to present the festival. We hope to see you again in 2005 with a bigger better festival. We encourage any companies or individuals who are interested in sponsoring to contact us as soon as they can.
Many people were involved in making CelticFest 2004 a great success but I would like to thank some individuals in particular that made the festival come alive. Thanks to Rita Albano of One World Productions, Karen Peterson_Ivanick of the DVBIA, Steve McVittie our Parade Marshal (Celtic Treasures on Dunbar), Nancy Command of the Celtic Heritage Society, Mal Mahon, President of the Celtic Heritage Society, and our volunteer coordinator Cam Snyder.
In closing, I would also like to acknowledge and thank all the wonderful volunteers who saw a vision with me and dedicated their own free time to make the festival happen. Please come back again next year and we'll create an even better festival than even our expectations can envision. Thanks to all!
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