Stir Cheat Sheet: 4 outdoor events to explore at this year's Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival

Song cycles, lantern processions, and tea gardens, as event highlights the natural beauty and ecological importance of Renfrew Ravine and Still Creek

By John Lucas

Left: Teapot in the Tuba. Right: Harvest Fair.

Still Moon Arts Society presents the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival until October 4 in the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood

THE RENFREW RAVINE MOON FESTIVAL, founded in 2003 by artist Carmen Rosen and the Still Moon Arts Society, is a community celebration that marks the coming of the Harvest Moon.

Created to draw attention to the natural beauty and ecological importance of Renfrew Ravine and Still Creek, the fest blends art, culture, and environmental stewardship through lantern processions, illuminated streamside installations, and a lively harvest fair. 

Weeks of workshops and other activities all culminate in a series of events on October 4. Here are a few of the highlights, with the full schedule here.

#1

Harvest Fair

4 pm to 6:45 pm at Slocan Park

Wetlands-themed activities include a lantern-making workshop and face-painting, plus live music by the Fedoras, SØURDØPE, and the Windermere Jazz Band. Yurie Kaneko of Flamenco Rosario is also on hand for a fiery performance. Local artisans will be selling their creations and neighbourhood eateries will offer harvest soup and snacks.

#2

Labyrinth Performance: Theatre of the Moon

6 pm to 8 pm at Renfrew Ravine Labyrinth

French-Canadian actor and clown Annie Lefebvre joins Katheryn Petersen and Mike WT Allen of Teapot in the Tuba for a song cycle influenced by summer full moons over the course of the past three years. Two of the pieces feature theatrical narrative sections with text drawn from Italo Calvino’s short story “Distance to the Moon” and Paul Scheerbart’s Lesabéndio: An Asteroid Novel.

#3

Twilight Lantern Procession

6:45 pm to 7:05 pm from Slocan Park to Renfrew Community Park

As the sun sets, Coast Salish performance troupe Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolfpack) will lead hundreds of community members in a journey along the edge of Renfrew Ravine from the Harvest Fair to Streamside Lanterns (see below). Along the way, participants will encounter puppeteers and other performers. Lanterns and costumes are encouraged.

Twilight Lantern Procession.

#4

Streamside Lanterns

7:05 pm to 9 pm at Renfrew Community Park

Illuminated artworks and soundscapes reflect the wetlands theme, installed amid the trees and along Still Creek. The displays include images of beavers, lily pads, turtles, frogs, and other elements of wetland life, accompanied by ambient sounds that drift through the forest. A tea garden will also be open, offering snacks and hot drinks. Performers include the Amorphous Folk Collective, Polymer Dance, and Gamelan Turtle Bliss.

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