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The Dance Connection
Festival 2009
July 16 to 18 2009
Festival 2009 was held at Vernon BC Canada
Websahots by Yvonne Quaedvelieg Of Festival 2009 in Vernon BC
Festival 2009 Vernon B.C. Summary REPORT
Sept 29, 2009
Festival 2009 was a resounding success because of the hard work of the committee members and volunteers who so willing and unselfishly gave of their time to get the work up front and behind the scenes.
Highlights:
- 377 pre-registered
- Only 10 cancellations (all received refunds),
- 68 dancers registered at the door
- 14 dancer’s attended the one night only session
- Total participants 449
- We received numerous accolades regarding the Festival
- Positive comments included: provision of all levels of dancing and forms in our Square Dance movement, the closeness of all dance halls, venues were clean, air conditioned venue, a small scaled entertaining Opening & Closing Ceremonies, availability of parking, the free dry R.V camping, organization of Callers & Cuers, variety of specialty dances, availability of free water, refreshments, fruit, and beverages were appreciated, everyone had fun.
The Festival committee held six face to face meetings to plan the event. Incidental issues were addressed by email as they arose. This was a huge feat considering the small size of the committee and the lack of volunteers. We were able to offer all types of dances in the Square Dance movement: Mainstream with phase 2 rounds, Plus-A1- A2, workshops were offered and intro to next levels took place in the afternoons. Rounds 3-4 and 5-6 with Showcase & Teach took place, around 32 couples participated. Clogging with Barb Guenette was well attended and we made sure water and venue considerations were attended to. We thank the Guenette family and all the cloggers for their participation in the Opening and Closing ceremonies.
The committee advertised the festival in order to secure door prizes, limited fundraising and donations from local businesses. Vernon Tourism was on hand Wednesday-Thursday with passports to Vernon. A positive response from Vernon Businesses included donations and gift certificates from the following :
- Vauhalla
- Davidson Orchards,
- Voets Coffee,
- Swan Lake Nurseries
- Safeways
- Rona
- Canadain Tire
- Vernon Lodge
- Spallumcheen
- Hillview Golf Course
- Painting by Kathy Readon
- Jim Attridge
- Schell Motel
- Quilt donated by Eileen Mickelson
- The Bulldog Hotel
- The Royal Knight Restaurant
- Kelly O’Bryens
- Blue Heron Pub
- Pepper Grill Restaurant
- KT’s Restaurant
- White Spot
- Apple Lane Restaurant
- Golden Crown Restaurant
- The Pantry
- Monashee Bar and Grill
- Waddy’s
- Wendy’s
- Sir Winston’s Pub
- KFC Restaurants
- Boston Pizza
- Fishers Hardware
- Roseman Brothers
A special souvenir badge was made for Festival 2009 since there was no interest in purchasing paid advertisement by vendors in a souvenir booklet. The following committee recommendations are suggested in order to help make future festivals a success. We discovered that there is no right or wrong way in putting on a Festival in smaller communities, just do it your way, but consider gaining more support from the Federation for securing more Callers & Cuers to participate as it benefits not only the individuals but also the Federation in the years to come.
In closing we would once again like to express our sincere thanks to all the committee members for their support and commitment to Festival.
Thank you, Thank you.
Genie & Dale French
Chairpersons Festival 2009
BC Square & Round Dance Federation Home Page
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