A musical melting pot kicks off the 9th annual Richmond Maritime Festival at the Britannia Heritage Shipyard on Friday, August 10.
New this year, the free Friday night concert will kick off the weekend, when the festival moves into full gear. The opening concert, from 7 to 9 p.m. on the YVR Community Stage, pays tribute to many cultures that helped build Richmonds maritime industry with Irish dancing, Japanese drumming and some modern folk-rock sounds.
Headlining the Friday night concert is Headwater, a Vancouver band who has toured nationally behind an acoustic roots sound that evokes influences ranging from Neil Young and Tom Petty to Peter Gabriel and Katy Perry.
Also performing are Richmonds own Tetsu Taiko, who bring youthful exuberance and thunderous intensity to a classic musical tradition, and the Eire Born Irish Dancers, a championship youth dance group that creates their own type of thunder.
CTVs Norma Reid, cohost of the CTV Morning Live, is the evenings emcee.
On Saturday and Sunday, Britishs Columbias oldest shipyard in British Columbia will come to life with festive, maritime-themed décor, colourful characters and ingenious exhibits with surprises around each corner. Theres free boarding of the tall ship Kaisei and other unique vessels, along with engaging historic exhibits about Canadas West Coast fishing industry and the lives of those who worked in the canneries, shipyards and on the boats.
Festival activities continue from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, August 11, and Sunday, August 12. Admission is free. For details visit www.richmondmaritimefestival.com. The event details are also available on the Steveston Village mobile app available for free at www.stevestonapp.com for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Blackberry.
The Richmond Maritime Festival is produced by the City of Richmond. Additional festival funding is provided by the Richmond Arts Coalition through the Canadian Heritage Building Communities through Arts and Heritage grant program.
