Suspenders, long flowing skirts, tie-dye and bare feet were the norm at the Dancing Bear Music festival, but they were by no means the only genre dancing up a storm and lounging in the sunny weather.
Six very different performers took to the stage with the Coastal mountains behind and an enthusiastic audience ahead from noon until almost 9 p.m. Sunday (April 25).
"I can't believe how well it's turned out," said co-organizer and Quest university student Krista Caldwell. "It's incredible to see so many people up here, and so many I don't recognize."
Caldwell said she thought less than half the festival goers were either students or faculty from the university, which is what they were hoping for. About 500 people showed up, which was 250 short of their goal, but still 200 more last year's inaugural festival.
"It's our opportunity to give back to the community and show them what Quest is all about," said Caldwell.
Dan Mangan, the headliner and final act of the night, wowed the crowd with both his original, honest lyrics and general stage presence. One minute the crowd was jumping up and down, the next had six rows of people, arm in arm, swaying back and forth.
During the final song, Robots, he invited as many crowd members as he could fit onto the stage to join in.
Quest students expressed hope this would become an annual event, and Mangan echoed the sentiment.
"It was great vibe and I think this festival is just going to keep growing," he said. "It's an ideal location."
Fans swarmed Mangan after the show, asking for pictures and advice.
"It's important to always keep working on the craft," he said. "You can't have a career without some savvy and you can't have a career without some quality content."
Meanwhile, children and adults of all ages took part in the dancing, singing and eating throughout the day. There were vendors selling Dancing Bear T-shirts, jewellery, gelato, tie-dyed clothes, massages and raffle tickets.
Half of the proceeds from the Dancing Bear merchandise will be donated to Free the Children, an organization dedicated to empowering youth around the world.
"Let's use our money to clean up this place," sang Shane Philips during one of his many songs dedicated to being green, the festival theme.
Most performers voiced some facts or concerns about global warming and the environment in general. Even the beer garden did its part by making customers pay a cup deposit of $4 for their daylong use.
The first bands, Fogon, The Rare Birds and Jenny, had the crowd on their feet in the early afternoon before things slowed down for Miss Emily Brown. This Iroquois Ontario Native singer had the audience listening in awe to her enchanting combination of voice, guitar and auto harp.
Philips changed the vibe completely when he took to the stage, orchestrating rhythmic reverberations and didgeridoo drones that infected the audience with an intense desire to jump, twirl and dance in a trance-like frenzy.
Philips, a multi-tasking, talented musician from Vancouver Island, played the drums, guitar, three didgeridoos and the harmonica all at once. His intense combination of rhythm, beats and strums was an inspiring one-man show the entire audience was ready to groove to.
"When I get really in to the music, and the crowd responds by dancing more animatedly, it's like an energy transfer back and forth," he said. "This festival has a great dynamic for that sort of musician-crowd relationship."
Although he has played a number of instruments throughout his life, Philips only started playing professionally about five years ago.
"I wanted to send a message and actually touch people's lives, and I realized music was an ideal way to do that," said Philips.
Another Vancouver Island based act, Current Swell, also had the crowd on their feet. They combined acoustic guitars, a lap slide, harmonica, base and three vocal mikes.
The band had something for everyone and covered all genres from folk and blues to reggae and country.
