The Pellsqepts Spring Winds Festival, a musical celebration of indigenous culture, is returning to the Shuswap, but at a different location.
The inaugural festival was held in March 2023 at Pierre鈥檚 Point, west of Salmon Arm. For its 2024 return, the event will be held at the Splatsin Community Centre on Saturday, March 23.
Secw茅pemc storyteller Kenthen Thomas, the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society鈥檚 (SAFMS) youth and Indigenous coordinator, calls the Splatsin Community Centre the perfect home for Spring Winds, as the facility provides room for up to 1,000 people 鈥� and is designed in the shape of a kekuli, the traditional winter pit house.
鈥淭he kekuli was where we did our teachings, shared our stories and sang our songs during the long winter months,鈥� said Thomas in an SAFMS media release. 鈥淭his is how we spent our time until the spring winds, the pellsqepts, brought us back out onto the earth to begin a new cycle around the sun.鈥�
All are invited to attend this annual festival, which brings music, traditional dancing, artisan vendors, food trucks, open stick games, face painting and more to visitors from all backgrounds and walks of life.
Taking the stage this year are Dakelh singer/songwriter Sabina Dennis, contemporary Indigenous rock and hip-hop group The Melawmen Collective, world champion hoop dancer Dallas Arcand, comedian and champion chicken dancer Conway Kootenay, acoustic rockers Horse Funeral, the All My Relations powwow dance group and Rhonda Camille with Secw茅pemc song and dance.
鈥淲e are thrilled to be featuring many artists from our local Secw茅pemc and Syilx nations in coordination with the SAFMS and ROOTSandBLUES staff,鈥� said Thomas. 鈥淭his is a showcase to bring the outside world into our communities, into our 鈥榬ez鈥� and show them what we鈥檙e all about.鈥�
Food trucks will be on-site at the festival, while vendors, artists and Secw茅pemc volunteers and educators share Indigenous ways of knowing and being, reads the release.
The festival gets underway at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 23 at 5767 Old Vernon Road, Enderby.
Admission is free, but donations to the Splatsin Youth Group are encouraged. Visitors are free to come and go throughout the afternoon.
For more information, visit the SAFMS online at rootsandblues.ca.
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