The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

music by Al Price Under the Volcano: Back to Its Youth Roots e v e r y t h i n g f r o m Squamish N a t i o n s t o r y t e l l e r s t o L o s A n g e l e s rappers. High-profile V a n c o u v e r e n t e r t a i n e r V e d a H i l l e w i l l also p e r f o r m . A l t h o u g h n o N o r t h S h o r e bands have b e e n b o o k e d yet, O o s t i n d i e says he w e l c o m e s any p r o g r e s s i v e local band, and singer, and s o n g w r i t e r t o a p p r o a c h h i m . A stage w i l l be set up at L i t t l e C a t e s Park, at t h e e a s t e r n end of Cates Park, f o r spoken w o r d p e r f o r m e r s and s i n g e r / s o n g w r i t e r s . In a d d i t i o n t o a first-class c h i l dren's p r o g r a m , t h e r e again w i l l be t h e v e r y p o p u l a r film and v i d e o tent. A n d , maintaining a t r a d i t i o n s t a r t e d m a n y years ago at t h e festival,TsleilWaututh (Burrard) Nation Chief L e o n a r d G e o r g e , o n w h o s e Band's t r a d i t i o n a l t e r r i t o r y t h e festival takes place, w i l l be an h o n o u r e d guest and k e y n o t e speaker. T h e m u s i c and o t h e r p e r f o r m i n g a r t s is a c r i t i c a l p a r t o f t h e U n d e r t h e V o l c a n o Festival, but it is o n l y a p a r t of t h e activities p l a n n e d . A l t h o u g h t h e festival is officially billed as a two-day event, t h e first day of this year's festival, A u g u s t 12, is d e v o t e d t o a c o n f e r e n c e , t o be h e l d at t h e B r i t a n n i a C o m m u n i t y C e n t r e in V a n c o u v e r . T e n t a t i v e l y t i t l e d R h y m e and R e s i s t a n c e , the c o n f e r e n c e , O o s t i n d i e says, w i l l f o c u s o n the t r a d i t i o n of t h e s p o k e n w o r d a n d is a i m e d , t r u e t o this year's m i s s i o n , at y o u t h , t h e r o o t s of the U n d e r t h e V o l c a n o Festival. " W h e n w e b r i n g in an act f r o m a great distance f o r o n e day, f o r an h o u r o r t w o o n stage, p e o p l e d o n ' t get e n o u g h o u t o f t h e a r t i s t s , " O o s t i n d i e says. " T h e c o n f e r e n c e is a c h a n c e f o r t h e a u d i e n c e t o sit d o w n w i t h t h e m and have s o m e d i s c u s s i o n . " A m o n g t h e visiting g r o u p s w i l l be bands f r o m L o s A n g e l e s , including M e d u s a and A z t l a n d U n d e r g r o u n d , a group of C h i c a n o youth reclaiming t h e i r h i s t o r y as p a r t o f t h e o l d Mexican nation, which included much of C a l i f o r n i a . " T h e y are a v e r y p o p u Al Price is a freelance writer and editor of the Squamish Times. He former and For more information on the festival or to volunteer, contact Oostindie at 4349, e-mail the organizers at 644lar band," r e m a r k s O o s t i n d i e . " w i t h a m i x o f hip-hop a n d g r u n g e -- v e r y l o u d -- w i t h fat hip-hop beats." A n d it is hip h o p that is speaking t o t h e y o u n g p e o p l e today, t h o s e in t h e 15 t o 25 age g r o u p , far m o r e s o than t o the current organizers w h o are n o w in t h e i r 30s. H i p h o p is t h e c u r r e n t vehicle f o r disaffected y o u t h and c a r r i e s t h e i r h o p e s o f i n c l u s i o n and social change. Many of the w o r k s h o p s and meetings at the c o n f e r e n c e have b e e n o r i e n t e d t o d i r e c t a c t i o n and activist e f f o r t s , such as campaigns against c e r t a i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l business and government efforts. A l t h o u g h a lot of that remains, o r g a n i z e r s r e a l ized s o m e y o u n g p e o p l e have n o t yet c o n f i r m e d t h e i r social c o n s c i e n c e s and t h e r e f o r e felt s o m e w h a t e x c l u d e d . T h e festival's change in music p r o g r a m m i n g t o reflect the e m e r g e n c e of hip h o p as a vehicle f o r y o u t h i n v o l v e m e n t is a i m e d p a r t i c u larly at this g r o u p . T h e r e w i l l be also on-site w o r k s h o p s a n d an i n f o r m a t i o n fair featuring b o o t h s and displays by m o r e than 100 different p o l i t i c a l , social, and c o m m u n i t y g r o u p s o n the s e c o n d day of t h e festival, in C a t e s Park. V a n c o u v e r w e r e y o u n g p e o p l e raging against the e s t a b l i s h m e n t . T h e y w a n t e d a f o r u m f o r the y o u t h v o i c e , a chance f o r y o u n g p e o p l e t o netw o r k w i t h t h e i r p e e r s and establish t h e m s e l v e s as legitimate c o n t r i b u t o r s t o society. A f t e r eleven years, t h e s e original o r g a n i z e r s have c e r t a i n l y d o n e t h a t -- a n d m o r e . But t h o s e same o r g a n i z e r s have also had t o r e c o g n i z e t h e passing o f t i m e in t h e i r o w n lives, and s o , this year, they a r e going back t o t h e i r r o o t s , p r o g r a m ming t h e A u g u s t 12 t o 13 e v e n t explicitly f o r t h e n e w g e n e r a t i o n of y o u n g p e o p l e . T h e festival w i l l be h e l d this year, as in several p r e v i o u s years, o is H in C a t e s Park, " W e s t a r t e d o u t as Y o u t h A r t w o r k s , frustrated youth looking f o r venues f o r all-ages s h o w s , " says I r w i n O o s t i n d i e , w h o has o r g a n i z e d t h e festival since its i n c e p t i o n . " W e o p e n e d t h e first y e a r in 1989 in w h a t was f o r m e r l y an a u t o - b o d y s h o p which then became a youth centre. T h e n w e [ m o v e d t o a v e n u e at] T h i r d and L o n s d a l e , w h i c h had a gig space. But w e w a n t e d t o have t h e p a r t y o u t s i d e . C a t e s P a r k has a r i c h t r a d i t i o n of festivals, such as t h e m e d i e v a l and hippie fairs of 2 0 years a g o . T w o d e c a d e s b e f o r e that, t h e s q u a t t e r s o n D o l l a r t o n Flats had t h e i r o w n c e l e b r a t i o n s . T h e n w e l o o k e d at internationally acclaimed author M a l c o l m L o w r y ' s w r i t i n g [ed: L o w r y was t h e m o s t p r o m i n e n t of t h e D o l l a r t o n squatters] and d e c i d e d that t h e title U n d e r t h e V o l c a n o had a lot of s y m b o l i c significance, i n c l u d ing t h e latent, building energy of people power." " T h e r e w i l l be a real s p e c t r u m [of p e r f o r m a n c e s ] at this year's festival, f r o m First N a t i o n s t r a d i t i o n s t o c u t ting-edge u r b a n s t o r y t e l l i n g , " says O o s t i n d i e . A l t h o u g h m u c h of the e n t e r t a i n m e n t is still t o be c o n firmed, t h e festival w i l l feature O rganizers o f t h e first U n d e r the V o l c a n o Festival in N o r t h volcano@tao.ca, or check out the festival website at www.too.ca/~vo/cono. his wife recently returned to roost in the North Shore mountains.