West Vancouver’s Ambleside area will be buzzing with activity this August, with the return of the district’s Harmony Arts Festival.
Starting Friday, Aug. 4 and running until Sunday, Aug. 13, the 10-day festival hosts free concerts, culinary events, art markets, Indigenous artists and carvers’ studio, as well as featured art exhibitions and programming for kids.
Each day features a roster of free concerts, which will play on the Garden Stage at Millennium Park (east of the Silk Purse Arts Centre). The music usually starts in the early afternoon and runs until 10 p.m. For the full schedule, visit the Harmony Arts website.
With the completed restoration of the Ferry Building Gallery, the heritage site returns as key festival venue. The gallery itself will be home to interactive art installations, workshops and demonstrations. One exhibition highlighted by the festival is the photography of Desirée Patterson. Her exhibit Anomaly explores the profound impact of climate change on the Himalayan cryosphere, with carefully captured and edited imagery of the powerful mountain range.
Directly east of the gallery, you’ll spot Right or Wrong? – a sculpture by this year’s featured artist Martha Sturdy. She also has another work, One World, at the base of 15th Street on Argyle Avenue. The latter work is composed of a large sphere balancing on a cube, painted in bright yellow. According to the festival, One World shows the earth at its tipping point, poised to either fall to the perils of climate change or roll in a more positive direction.
Also next door to the Ferry Building is the ArtSpeaks tent, where artists will host presentations, sharing their knowledge and unique perspectives.
For the shoppers out there, the Bespoke Night Market runs Aug. 8 to 10, from 4 to 10 p.m. The market will be home to sellers of handmade, vintage and other curated wares. Running through the rest of the festival will by the Fresh St. Market Art Market, with artists selling ceramics, glass, jewelry, leather, painting, photography, textiles and woodcraft.
Catering to the foodies in the crowd, the quick-to-sell-out food and wine pairing event happens Aug. 9 at the Grosvenor Ambleside Galleria Plaza. With open views of the waterfront, diners will taste pairings from local restaurants and wineries. Tickets to the Best of the West event are $110, and available on the Harmony Arts website.
For more casual eats, food trucks will be set up in Millennium Park with various options.
To the west in John Lawson Park, the Visual Arts Hub will fill the green space with daily events, displays and hands-on activities every day of the festival. The hub will play host to LEGO master Paul Hetherington’s Bricktacular West Coast Modern Show; The Harmony Group Show Exhibition, a juried gallery with works by 80 local artists in various mediums; For the Love of Art, a youth exhibit; and an Indigenous Artists in Residence Carvers Studio.
For more details, visit the festival website.
