Vancouver Island MusicFest July 10-12, 2009

Earth Day Family Festival is a free, community-centered event which celebrates both community and planetary well-being. Co-presented by World Community, Vancouver Island MusicFest and Our Big Earth Media Co., the 2010 Earth Day Family  Festival is a free day-long celebration of planetary and community wellbeing planned for April 24th 2010 from 10 am till 4 pm at Simms Park in Courtenay.

This year’s Earth Day theme is “Biodiversity – celebrating nature, culture and community”. The whole Comox Valley is invited to be part of this full day of free interactive learning, live music, community displays, fun-filled hands-on kids activities, live demos and so much more! Earth Day Family Festival is truly “community in action” where organizations and individuals come together in a celebration and exchange of ideas, inspiration and tools for life on planet earth.

Come learn, play and be inspired about water, watershed and land conservation, local food and food systems, alternative transportation, social and community organizations, green buildings and energy, and re-using, recycling, returning and re-inventing ways to live lightly on the planet. Pack a picnic, fill up the water bottle, hop on your bike and come spend the day with friends and neighbours in a celebration of the natural and social diversity of life in the valley.

Musical performers presented by Vancouver Island MusicFest include Celtic songstress Mary Murphy. Combine a wee Irish lass with a honeyed crystalline voice, a dynamic multi-instrumentalist and good cheer. What do you get? A whopping great time!  Come let Mary Murphy transport you across the Atlantic to the Irish isle -  home of traditional, original and contemporary Irish songs. Mary not only sings lyrics, she transcends them. Her penned originals are seeped in tradition, and one would be hard pressed to decipher the originals from the traditional ones.

Also performing is Anela Kahiamoe. Anela was born and raised in Hawaii on the island of Oahu and has worked and played as a studio musician, producer, performer and songwriter for over 30 years. Anela has worked with many of the top singers in Hawaii, Japan and the Far East spreading Hawaiian music and hula. Fortunate enough to marry a Canadian in 2004, he currently resides in the beautiful Comox Valley where he shares his soulful voice and stellar guitar skills with enthusiastic audiences.

Also joining the fun on April 24th is Modern-Folk Poet Corwin Fox. Operating happily under the mainstream radar for the last decade, Corwin Fox is one of Canada’s best kept musical secrets. Singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer and session musician, Corwin has worked on over fifty albums and toured across Canada, the U.S. and Australia countless times, playing everywhere from huge outdoor folk festivals to rowdy bars to intimate cafes and coffeehouses.

Corwin is a songwriter from the true folk tradition, in the sense that he incorporates the elements of music and culture that surround him. In a live setting this becomes obvious, as his performances display hushed and personal songs alongside lively and danceable bluegrass or hip hop-infused songs on traditional folk instruments like guitar and banjo. In the last eight years Corwin has released five solo albums and one album with his band, Balls Falls.

Since graduating from a recording engineering program at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario in 2002, Corwin has been increasingly working on producing albums for other artists such as Raghu Lokanathan, Shane Philip and Sarah Noni Metzner. Sarah’s album “Daybreak Mourning”, which was produced by Corwin, won her the Best Solo Artist 2007 award at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Besides his own music, Corwin also has a project which is a collaboration with Miss Emily Brown called Morlove. Corwin now lives in Cumberland.

Add to those performances some theatrical comedy sketches from Theatreworks and music from the Letz Sing Choir for a mini festival of musical delights! Check back for more details about programming, kids activities and even more musical guests over the next few weeks! Or join our facebook event and help spread the word far and wide!