Illuminares Is Stolen From Us

Flower Offering from Illuminares a few years back

One of the great days each year in East Vancouver was the celebration of Illuminares at a pagan festival that always happened on and around Trout Lake at John Hendry Park.  It was organized each year by the Public Dreams Society who also used to organize Parade of Lost Souls later in the year around Grandview Park and into the Britannia school grounds.

Now, both have been taken from us.

Public Dreams creative director Samantha Jo Simmonds says that they want to take the festival “out and across the city”.  Why?  Why not bring people to East Van, to Trout Lake where the festival belongs?

She says that people want modern electric lights and video displays on Canada Place’s white top.  I don’t — that’s what we get all the time.  And yes, a lot of us like to bring “out the same old lanterns every year.”  We made them, we are proud of them, they work well in the darkness of the park and the lake.  Now they will be invisible in the bright “modern” lights.

Years ago we started the Fringe Festival here — that got stolen to False Creek. Public Dreams has failed to follow through on Parade of Lost Souls for the last year or so. And now our own special eastside summer festival is being sacrificed to Public Dreams desire for west side money (at least that is the only rationale I can think of).

Public Dreams used to be such a great organization. Now, they sound like Liberals, pandering to downtown and the west side. Shame.

A genuine eastside group should take this up and revive the real thing next summer. Public Dreams can go off and play with their rich new friends; we’ll make our own fun.

 

Where Is Christmas?

One of the “pleasures” of being in St Paul’s Hospital over this past week was being on the 10th floor with one of the very best southward looking views over Vancouver. English Bay is laid out on the right and Burrard Bridge straight ahead. Almost without obstruction one can see a wide swathe of the West End and, across False Creek, all of Kitsilano and Point Grey all the way to the 37th Avenue ridge. A magnificent view.

However, looking out on the evening of December 22nd, across that immense section of Vancouver, you could not possibly tell it was Christmastime. Apart from one solitary balcony on a West End high rise, I could not see a single decoration or light or Christmas tree. I’m not upset by that — Christmas these days is nothing but commercial nonsense after all — but I sure was surprised at the absolute lack of signs.

Local TV stations seem to spend an inordinate amount of time showing off massive house decorations of dubious value, so I guess the decorating thing is alive and well in the suburbs. But not here in the big city.