The most difficult part of Bowfest-ish was trying to leave.
The giant community reunion –with about 2,000 attendees – was a truncated version of the decades-old festival. It had no parade, few booths, shortened hours and fewer activities than its pre-COVID predecessors. Yet, it was not lacking.
A mere six weeks ago, it looked like Bowfest would be yet another virtual affair, like 2020’s online country fair, streamed concert and pre-recorded parade. But with B.C. reopening significantly at the beginning of July, the committee decided to organize a live event.
There were the health considerations to contend with. Up until the Monday before Bowfest – with provincial COVID-19 case numbers still rising and a provincial health officer announcement looming – organizers were poised to cancel or pivot.
“We really sat down and looked at the requirements from public health,” said committee co-chair Joan Vyner. “That was really, really important to us.
“We want people to come and have fun, but be as safe as possible.
“That’s partly why we went with the ‘Bowfest-ish’ idea, because we wanted to make sure that the field was really open. So people could spread out.”
With the Bowfest-ish decision made, Vyner, other co-chair Sheana Stevenson, and their fellow committee members started making calls. “It was one of those amazing series of events that made it work – that people would say yes and that everybody just jumped on board.
“The other thing that was really, really wonderful was the level of sponsorship that we got from the local businesses,” said Vyner. “I think we tripled it from what we normally do.”
The level of sponsorship allowed the event to be by donation.
There was also the concern that not doing the fair could prove fatal to the tradition of more than 40 years. "When you let a festival like this stop, it's really hard to restart it," said Vyner. "Because the continuity is gone. The corporate memory's gone."
Vyner points to the committee as a whole for the event’s success. “It’s really one of the best volunteer committees I have ever worked with,” she said. “Dedicated, hard working, lots of fun, lots of talent…they’re a super, super group of people.”
As Stevenson’s going back to university, she won’t be heading up the Bowfest organizing next year, so the crew is looking for more volunteers to join the festival forming fun.
