The Harrison Festival Society is hosting a special day to celebrate their neighbours.
During this year's Harrison Festival of the Arts – running July 11 to 20 – will host its first Chilliwack Day on Thursday, July 18. This day's performers all hail from the Fraser Valley, starting with a performance from The Ranters at 2 p.m. at the Lagoon Stage.
The Ranters features two Chilliwack-born musicians – guitarist Rockland Moran and bassist Fred Webber. The Ranters bring their extensive knowledge of Appalacian, Americana and roots music, providing modern takes on music with roots as old as the mountains themselves. Moran and Webber have played together since their high school days in the 1970s. Gillian Wale is on vocals and autoharp to complete the trio.
At 3:20 p.m., the 100 members of the Chilliwack Rock Choir will take ot the stage for a 45-minute concert of a variety of rock hits. Festival artistic director Andy Hillhouse leads the choir, and the show is set to feature solo trombone work from Nick La Riviere, the choir's founder.
The evening's outdoor performances wrap up with a community barn dance, which will feature Abbotsford's own Mark Sullivan – one of the continent's finest fiddlers and fellow Abbotsford fiddler Shamma Sabir of the Sabir Sisters.
All outdoor shows are ungated and buttons will be on sale to support the artists.
The ticketed performance on the evening of July 18 features Bawah, a Chilliwack afropop artist making his Festival debut at 8 p.m. Bawah hails from Ghana and has become well-known in England, performing afropop, R&B and hip hop on major stages across the pond. Tickets for Bawah's shows and any other Memorial Hall show throughout the festival are available at harrisonfestival.com, by calling 604-796-3664 or in person at the Ranger Station Art Gallery at 98 Rockwell Dr.
