WELLSAID

The Artswells Festival needs you.

Artswells is an annual music and arts festival that takes place in Wells, BC. In recent years, the festival has burgeoned from a small community event to one of national impact and import, while never forgetting its green, grassy roots – a rare feat these days. Established and emerging artists from across Canada converge each year in this picturesque and spooky Northern British Columbia town to collaborate and share in an innovative mix of music, performance, art and culture. Over the past 7 years, the festival has been steadily growing, attracting like-minded people from this country and abroad. The event has become a major economic cornerstone for the Wells community, and an important feature of the cultural landscape of British Columbia.

This year, however, the Artswells festival had their funding cut dramatically. These cuts amounted to a daunting $17,000 (now even more with more funding losses like the Direct Access Gaming) budget shortfall – money that was to be used almost solely to cover artist’s fees and travel costs. Worse, this is not an isolated case. Festivals and arts organizations across the country are feeling this firm arterial pinch, even though it’s well documented that the economic return on arts investment is substantial (www.allianceforarts.com) – to say nothing of the immeasurable cultural benefits of such funding. So why is this very inexpensive and ultimately profitable ongoing economic stimulus being stripped from our culture and economy?

During a year in which the achievements of this nation’s athletes are justly celebrated, it is troubling to think that Canada’s world-class (and renowned) independent arts-culture will suffer due to funding cuts. Has immediate Olympic glory come at the expense of our culture? We hope not. The artists and musicians of the Artswells festival have set an ambitious goal. Through a series of 17 fundraising shows, coast-to-coast, we intend to raise awareness and to recuperate every penny needed to cover this funding shortfall. We feel that this festival is too integral to the Wells community and the cultural landscape of this country to go down without a fight.

Please join us by attending a fundraising event listed on this site, or donating some time to help organize or promote one of these shows. Thank you.

Wellsaid Fundraising Shows – join the Wellsaid facebook group to get involved!

There are no shows booked at the moment. Please check back again soon!