Planning for first Indigenous Festival of the Arts to be held in 亚洲天堂 Lake is currently underway.
Rayanne Charlie, one of the event planners said she hopes the festival will eventually morph into a significant annual event in Western Canada.
"This is just the beginning," Charlie said to Lakes District 亚洲天堂.
"I can see something like this festival being good for our town. When we went on tour last year with [the play] 'A Walk on Moss' we found that festivals were very few and far between. Having a place available to showcase your work, encourages more work," Charlie said.
According to Charlie the event will be the first of its kind in the region and is set to be held at the Lakes District Secondary School (LDSS) on March 17 during Aboriginal Sharing Week.
"There will be culturally relevant food available as well as an art exhibit displaying Aboriginal contemporary and traditional art," Charlie said.
Charlie went on to say that the organizing group is excited to bring to 亚洲天堂 Lake some big names to perform at the event including First Nations stand up comedian Howie Miller, First Nations Canadian actor Tyson Houseman who appeared as Quil Ateara in the Twilight series, Spencer Greening (Gabow) past Lakes District Secondary School student, Nadleh Whut'en Traditional drummers and dancers, Paul Michell a storyteller from the University of Northern British Columbia as well as performers from Lakes District Secondary School and other local schools.
There will also be skits from the Smoke Signals screen play and performances by Johnny Pahl, as well as a local kindergarten class and a class from William Konkin Elementary School.
"Our goal is to share time together, eat and laugh and enjoy each other's company as well as to encourage our youth to reach for the stars in whatever they are interested in," Charlie said.
"This could be the start of something very special," she added.
Charlie also said that there is a possibility that the late Larry Rousseau's art work will be on display at the festival.
"He is originally from 亚洲天堂 Lake and was a world renowned artist," Charlie said.
The festival is open to everyone to come along.
Some of the event's funding has been provided by Embrace B.C.
Pauline Goertzen from Community Futures Nadina who helped source the funds said the $1,000 provided by Embrace B.C. came from the province. "The funding is to help create multi cultural events," she said.
Goertzen went on to say that hopefully this coming year she will again be working with Charlie to assist the festival group in finding more funding sources for next years event.
"We want to make the festival even bigger and better next year," Goertzen added.
Charlie also said that LDSS principal Mike Skinner has provided the group with some LDSS seed money for start up costs.
"We don't have much money so we have to charge ticket prices at the door," she added.
It is an evolving process, we have to start somewhere and test the waters," Charlie said,
The Indigenous Festival of the Arts will be held on March 17 at Lakes District Secondary School. Tickets will be $15 for adults and $7 for kids under 12. Tickets should be purchased ahead of time from Process 4 circle arts Gallery.
There will be two separate shows, one during the afternoon for LDSS students and one at 7 p.m. for the community.
The art exhibit will be open for viewing from 5:30 p.m.
