The driving force behind the biggest outdoor green festival in Canada is Victoria's Deb Morse, director of Organic Islands Event Promotions.
The upcoming "Organic Islands Festival and Sustainability Expo" at the idyllic Glendale Gardens and Woodland in Victoria features over 125 exhibitors and is expected to attract over 7,000 people.
Exhibits include local goods for sale, activities for children, high profile panel discussions, fun activities, non-profits, health and wellness, grass roots activism, local chefs and real farmers.
Part of Morse's inspiration for Organic Islands comes from the idea that so much of what we really need is right in our own back yards.
Morse spent her childhood on an acreage in Hamilton in a rural area surrounded by farmers. Her back yard consisted of "fruit trees, berries—blackberries, raspberries, mulberries—our own well water, and wild land. It was idyllic."
When she moved to Victoria from Toronto as an adult, she was surprised to see cows in her neighborhood. She describes her amazement at discovering the wealth of local goods and the various initiatives that were literally in her back yard.
"Many people had been doing great things for years before I came along."
After graduating from the University of Victoria she created a job for herself organizing the annual festival. She sees herself as a bridge, bringing communities together.
At the festival, "you meet the people behind the products and make the connection with them, you learn their story, you learn what really happened to farmer Joe's asparagus crop."
Organic Islands is for everyone, says Morse. When she started the festival in 2005 she considered herself pretty mainstream. "I wasn't professionally working in it, and I wasn't an environmental activist, so I was like a lot of people."
Festival Highlights:
Musicians: Headlining are Mae Moore from Vancouver Island and Lester Quitzau, an acoustic folk and blues duo. Both performers are multiple Juno award nominees. Moore tends her own organic orchard and last year composed a song specifically for the festival.
In addition to the main stage musicians, which include Jeremy Fischer, Shane Philip and Hayley Sales, there will be roaming minstrels playing in pockets throughout the venue. Although one of them is only 14 years old, she has already written a song about "making a difference in the world."
Natural cooking demos: Bill Jones, local author and educator and renowned natural foods chef, will guide his audience through an exploration of the benefits of local cooking. His menu includes Deerholme Farm salad with mixed greens, arugula and sweet peas topped with big leaf maple syrup vinaigrette, and braised mushrooms with seaweed and herbs in a sweet and sour hemp seed sauce.
Things to taste and eat: Tasty morsels will be available throughout the festival. Barbequed organic chicken sausages by Karin's Country Farm, fresh fruity gelato from Salt Spring Gelato Delizioso and Vancouver Island bison pepperoni and iced fair trade cappuccinos are just some of the mouthwatering delights attendees can sample.
If samples don't suffice, Baba Om, known for serving up treats at the farmers market on Cortez Island, will be selling pizzas, fruit kabobs, smoothies, and other treats.
For the kids: Kids can play the "Climate Change Game," spin the sustainability roulette wheel and plant magic beans at the Nature's Path Envirokidz tent. The can also participate in the Fair Kick Soccer Kids obstacle course, the Sparkle Shack face painting artistry, Mr. Chumi's balloon animals and magical story telling with string figures. Pet the kid-friendly chickens and learn how you can raise your very own chickens in your own back yard.
Keynote speaker: The keynote address will be presented by Jyoti Stephens, sustainability and stewardship manager of Vancouver's own mega natural foods company, Nature's Path. Stephens, 30, will speak about how consumers can put pressure on corporations to behave in a more sustainable manner.
Panel discussions: There are two panel discussions, one being JOIN THE F.U.N —Farming in Urban Neighborhoods.
The other explores Genetically Engineered free zones and why they are important.
Percy Shmeiser, a farmer from Bruno, Saskatchewan, famous for taking Monsanto to court after his Canola fields became contaminated with their GE seed, is headlining the panel. In March of this year he won an out-of-court settlement whereby Monsanto was ordered to pay for the clean-up of his fields and made aware that they may be sued again if contamination recurs.
In designing the festival, Morse says she wanted to "build something that would speak to me" and create an event where "people could find out about all this stuff in one place."
Festival goers can expect to find farmers, gardeners, and others in direct contact with the earth. "When was the last time you felt the grass beneath your feet?"
Situating the festival outdoors was enormously important to Morse.
"The location works hand and glove with what we are putting in there. People get moved in a way. The location together with the community that is there works synergistically to create an experience that can transform people."
The outdoor locale also appeals to families. "The kids can run around and have fun, and you can still enjoy it. It doesn't matter if the kids are loud, it's not a problem."
Morse is the mother of an adopted daughter, Aliyah Shan-Hui, which has made the idea of preserving the natural environment for future generations more compelling for her.
Morse works almost year-round on the show, and manages 100 volunteers for the two-day event.
A highlight of the festival is sure to be the "mini-event within the bigger festival" which is essentially a sustainability challenge. On arrival, attendees will receive a guide with a printed "passport" outlining the challenge.
As participants go through the 11 activities learning about different aspects of living sustainably, they collect stamps. At the conclusion, the participant makes an action pledge which then qualifies for a draw for the Grand Prize: "Living La Vida Eco."
"The idea is that we want to create change," says Morse. However, she is quick to add that she does not want people to feel overwhelmed. She calls the sustainability challenge "grass roots activism."
"It is making it accessible to people and narrowing it down."
Morse believes people have had enough of "boring doom and gloom messages." She says she wants to motivate people through fun and inspiration by associating environmental change with joy, fun and celebration.
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