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festivals West Van Hosting 2nd Annual Harmony Arts Festival Harmony Committee is working hard to raise ilic $.'2.00(1 required to stage the festival. The District of West Vancouver i< contributing S16.(100 tow arils the festival and to date, the Royal Bank. Peppi's and The Sporting Look have offered to contribute generously as sponsors. There i< still a considerable shortfall and individual citizens are urged to make large or small tax-deductible donations to ensure that the beginnings. Vancouver's First Storytelling Festival was held over two weekend* in March wiih more lhan 10tellerspar licipating. The site of ihe first weekend was the beautiful Dr. Sun Yat-Scn Classical Chinese Garden. In the Main Pavilion, ten different sessions were held over two days, each featuring tellers from some ol Vancouver's diverse cultural communities There were Chinese. Japunese and French Canadian tales, tales from a Canadian girlhood, Central Amencan. Yiddish. Sikh and Tsimshian Wisdom tales, as well as a traditional Estonian wedding tale. Nonh Shore pamcipanis included Ahcgacl Fisher Lang and Enc Gordon, both ot whom are members of Roots & Wlnfl BtOf) tellers Like Ihe event itself, the warm spring sun sparkled as listeners gathered to Ihe point of overflowing. Both the idlers and the audiencc represented many ethnic hack grounds and through their shared sioncthere was a warm and wonderful crossing over of the cultures. On the following weekend the storytelling activity moved to Vancouver's West End for two nights and a day's worth of stones. I'ossibh the c.nK church in Vancouver with padded pews, both bottom and back. St. John's United Church pnwed to be not only an cx-iremely comfortable site for the two evening concerts, but a visual and de. siory [filing banner. Saturday offered a smorgasbord ol taking place throughout ihe day in St John's United Church. Gordon Neighborhood House and Barclay Manor Unlike the community focus of ihe previous weekend, tellers were invited from the North Pole (Alaska*. Seattle, Prince George. Toronto, the Gulf Islands. Victoria and the Lower Mainland. One could hear Native. Sufi, Siberian. Chinese. Yiddish, traditional folk and personal talcs, lales from the North and laics from the South. Three different open stages invited ihe audience to come forward lo tell their stones and one workshop was offered to those interested in diseovenng the stories of their family. Bolh storytellers and audience made new contacts and renewed old acquaintances and. tike most smorgasbords. all participants ended Ihe festival will be street performers. AnBcat, which will be even bigger this year, will feature the work of North Shore artists in 80 shop windows in Ambleside and Dundarave. Guided tours of this sireetfront gallery will be conducted daily. Once again we'll be able to catch artists at work in the parks creating works of art lor ihe final day's An Auction. Also, live music will drift across the sands of Ambleside and Dundarave beaches in the evenings: everything from reggae lo bigband sounds will delight young and old West Vancouver and celebrate and support the arts on the North Shore. For further informal ion about the festival Back again this year will be Creative un.i'jin.ilu! of an All this just doesn't happen without a lot of staff and volunteer suppon. West Van's cultural services supervisor Cathy Maiheson. festival manager Colleen Reed and Ferry Building curator Susan Aoki arc all working hard, along with the Harmony Committee chaired by Betsy Waterbury. As the event draws near, hundreds of volunteers will be called upon to do such tasks as set up AnBeal windows, act as ArtBeat guides and assist al various events. Nor does this happen w ithout money. The Trust Me, I'mTelling You Stories* Stories galore. Stones for one and all Whether werealizeand accept n or not. stories are a part of all of us. Stories define our lives and explain the physical and emotional world around us So. "trust me." and come for more stones al the Second Annual Storytelling Festival next spring. In the meantime, join us at the monthly storytelling gatherings of the Vancouver Storytelling Circle. ion or to pui your n of the Vancouver Hers, call 22X1274.