Check out the Jericho Folk Music Festival
You’ve never had so much fun with your kids until you’ve been to the Jericho Folk Music Festival.
The vibe there is so relaxed. It reminds me of the week leading up to Halloween in that you start to see people dressed up in costume without a care in the world. Their inner freak, or hippy as it is were at the festival comes out.
And I love that about it.
It’s fun to see people let go and just be themselves. Checking out the jugglers, the hoola hoopers and the ‘dancers’ do their thing is the best kind of people watching in town. And of course it doesn’t hurt that this festival is chock full of amazing talent with concert stages set up everywhere in Jericho Beach Park.
There’s lots to see and do. Here’s the full weekend schedule to have a look at. You can also download the schedule here to take it with you.
The highlight for us will be Little Folks Village
Here is a glimpse of what’s on tap in the Little Folks Village this year:
- The fabulous Christa returns with her hula hoops and lessons on how to use them.
- The Secret Lantern Society will be teaching kids how to make beautiful pin-prick lanterns.
- The Nylon Zoo will be there too, including The Ta Daa Lady and her puppet friend, Stumpy.
- Kids can crawl inside wetland domes to join in songs and learn about preserving our wetlands.
- They can also try on great costumes and wear them in a fun and exciting parade.
- Arts Umbrella will be there with their larger-than-life easels and other engaging activities.
- The Stanley Park Ecology Society will entertain the whole family with their displays and nature crafts.
- Redbird will be teaching juggling and stilt walking workshops throughout the weekend.
And the Little Folks Village volunteers have been busy organizing some new and exciting craft projects for this year, along with face painting and clay activities.
There is lots of fun in store for the whole family. Adults/parents are welcome to join in the fun alongside their children.
My recommendations: Our itinerary for the weekend
Tonight ~ Date Night!
We’ve got someone to look after our son tonight so we’ll have a date night. The festival opens with the the First Nations Welcome ceremony at 4.30 (which has already passed) with concerts starting at 5.10pm and running until 9.50pm. I’m not sure at this point who we will sit down and watch, I suspect we’ll wander a bit and see what happens. It’s going to be nice and cool by the water too, but in a hot summer kind of way. Just right. We’ll bring a blanket and light sweaters just in case.
Saturday
The Little Folks Village is open from 10-5pm so we’ll try to get here early enough to spend a couple of hours before we go home for nap time.
Saturday Night ~ Date Night!
We’ve been fortunate enough to line up another babysitter so we are taking full advantage of it tonight! I’d love to see Joan Baez, legendary singer and musical force of nature who has spoken out for the rights of the oppressed with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Very cool! My inner activist and hipster is going to come out. Should I wear my tie-died dress, hoop earrings and braid my hair? Barefoot is definitely a must. (As long as there is somewhere to wash the dust off afterwards.)
Sunday
The Little Folks Village is also open today from 10-5pm and there will be a lot of options for lunch from the ton of food trucks that will be there.
I have hopes that our little guy will be well rested enough to skip nap so we can take in the entire day here. But if not, we’re not too far away if we have to go home for a few hours. The lantern festival and festival finale start quite late, 10.40pm to be exact but even if we don’t make it that long, we will be there in spirit.
Last year we had a blast during story time, which took place inside a massive inflatable whale following by a spritely parade of costumed little ones who proudly showed off their newly garbed selves dressed as bats and dragons and cats.
Getting there
Ride your bikes or take transit if you can as parking is definitely a challenge. If you do ride your bikes, you can safely park them for $2 a day in a secured lot out front of the 4th Avenue entrance.
I wasn’t compensated for this post but I was given weekend passes for two to attend. All opinions are my own.
Lee-Anne Ekland is mom to one feisty preschooler and your Modern Mama Vancouver Community Director. You can also find her on MomParadigm.com where she writes about a lot of other stuff that parents care about.