THE DUNDARAVE FESTIVAL

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Presented by VANCITY

COMMUNITY TREE DECORATING PARTY

Presented by VANCITY
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The Dundarave Festival brings you Christmas as you've never seen it before, fabulously festive and absolutely free in the Festival Longhouse and Nativity Pavilion.  Surrounded by a forest of Christmas trees, the only one like it in coastal British Columbia, you and everyone you love can connect with the bright spirit of the season as we approach the longest night of the year.  From the ground breaking music of indie artists to the ancient songs the ancestors of the Squamish Elders sang on these shores for thousands of generations, the Dundarave Nativity & Paddle Songs brings you a loving Christmas.

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Elders of the Squamish Nation

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The origins of the Dundarave Nativity remain a mystery.  Carved of old growth cedar, this setting depicting the first Christmas has been at the centre of the season in West Vancouver for generations.  The carvings show the serenity and universality of that moment, in faces composed to evoke the features of an Aboriginal Holy Family with Angel, Shepherd and Kings of every race.  The original carvings have been painstakingly restored by Master Carver Bill Seminoff.  Over hundreds of hours, Bill has made this a labour of love, working to the completion of the setting with a new figure, King Melchior, in the Festival's last season.  This season he will unveil the latest addition to the Dundarave Nativity.  The new carvings have been made possible through the generous gift of two tons of red cedar from Timberwest.

The Elders of the Squamish Nation return to the Dundarave Festival to show their love for the Dundarave Nativity, and to bless the Festival with paddle songs and traditional dances.  Join Master Storyteller Wendy Charbonneau in the Dundarave Nativity Pavillion to experience first-hand the power of a deep spiritual connection to this beach and this season.

Laurell

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Winner of the 2010 Pop Album of the Year, Western Canadian Music Awards, Laurell returns to the Festival Longhouse with songs to lift your spirit and stir your soul.  Lyrical and bright, Laurell's luminous voice and passionate songwriting speak to the emancipating promise of this season, a light shining in the longest nights of the year.

Dogwood and Dahlia

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Local artists Neil Smith and Sydney Thorne take you back to the heart of Canada's sound.  Honest chords and clean, evocative lyrics, Dogwood and Dahlia bring the power of the country's musical dna into the twenty-first century.  Fresh from working on their first album, Dogwood and Dahlia are set to light up the Festival Longhouse.

David Newberry

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With his second solo album set for release early in 2012, David Newberry brings to the Festival Longhouse lean powerful lyrics, a courageous intensity and command second to none.  Newberry's inspired songwriting brings, in the words of three-time Juno Award-winning artist David Francey, "exquisite insights into the human condition" rendered lovingly and set on an epic Canadian landscape.
"David's music is delivered with passion and intensity such as I have rarely experienced. Each song is like a masterpiece of concise writing, not one wasted word or thought. Each drives home the fact that I am listening to exquisite insights into the human condition. A brilliant blend of heart and mind that is all but missing in most of his contemporaries writing today. He is a brilliant poet and compelling performer. I will be in the audience again as often as I can. I think he is an outstanding writer. Simply outstanding."

-Three time Juno Award winner David Francey



Featuring
The St. Thomas Aquinas Choir
The Pacific Spirit Children's Choir
Ridgeview School Grade Seven Band


We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the Dundarave Festival is located on the  unceded sovereign territories of the
Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh),​and xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.


We acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

Copyright © Dundarave Festival of Lights Society. All rights reserved.
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  • Shine in the Forest of Miracles
  • Be a Festival Founder
  • 2022 Forest of Miracles
  • Sustainably Spectacular
  • The Love & Joy Blog