A little rain couldn鈥檛 hold back the Shuswap Trail Alliance鈥檚 Trails Day Celebration.
Despite cooler wet weather, people were lined up for the event, which took place at the South Canoe trailhead from 4 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 1.
鈥淲e had people lined up at 4 p.m. to come in, in their raincoats with umbrellas 鈥� and some people brought their own tents,鈥� said Shuswap Trail Alliance (STA) executive director Jen Bellhouse.
The celebration, held in conjunction with BC Trails Day, featured local food trucks Arma Greek Food and The Yukon Smash, a beer garden hosted by The Barley Station and The Shuswap Cider, and the main attraction: music by Nelson band Shred Kelly.
Bellhouse said the rain, which stopped about two-thirds of the way into the band鈥檚 first set, didn鈥檛 keep people from dancing.
鈥淓verybody will remember that time they were dancing with Shred Kelly in the rain,鈥� said Bellhouse. 鈥淪hred Kelly did a dance contest and little kids up to older folks were just grooving and giving 鈥榚r.鈥�
Tickets for the event (free to people ages 18 and under) were capped at 500. Bellhouse said 482 were sold/given out, with more people picking them up at the gate up until about 6:30 p.m.
鈥淧eople kept piling in, hundreds of people came and it was super,鈥� said Bellhouse, noting trails users/supporters are a hearty crowd. 鈥淪o many wonderful volunteers, everybody was happy, smiles on their faces鈥�
鈥淭he music was great and it was super peaceful happy, and then so many people stayed and helped pull down tents. We were done and cleaned up and out of there by 9:30.鈥�
Despite the good turnout, Bellhouse said the space was big enough that 鈥測ou never really felt crowded.鈥�
This was the first outdoors Trails Celebration of its kind for the STA, which opted to run the event this year instead of its popular indoor Trails Party that also served as a fundraiser. With its success, Bellhouse was certain the Celebration blazed a trail for future STA events.
鈥淭his year wasn鈥檛 a fundraiser 鈥� we did it as a celebration but we may turn it into the fundraiser next year,鈥� said Bellhouse. 鈥淲e鈥檒l work through that with the planning committee and see, but I think this is definitely the new event. We were outside and it was the people that we do the work with showed up and that really made us happy.鈥�
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