Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society survives: board withdraws motion to dissolve
Due to overwhelming opposition to a proposed vote that could have seen the fest come to an end, board reverses course, launches fundraising and volunteer drive
THE VANCOUVER FOLK Music Festival isn’t going anywhere without a fight. The VFMF Society may still be facing financial strife, but the fest is not facing imminent collapse, as could have been the case had a proposed vote resulted in its dissolution.
The VFMF Society’s board of directors has just announced that it has voted to withdraw the motion to dissolve the society, which was proposed due to the festival’s financial difficulties. The board has also launched a fundraising and volunteer drive to help save the festival.
After the festival virtual town hall on February 1—where nearly 300 participants shared their thoughts and suggestions—the board met and voted to rescind the motion to dissolve the society.
“The board has listened to the feedback from the community, VFMF board president Mark Zuberbuhler tells Stir. “We are also aware of the incredible support and passion that people have for the festival. We have received countless communications with ideas and willingness to help in any way possible. As a result we want to harness the energy and see what can be accomplished.”
As reported by Stir, the VFMF Society’s board has stated the organization needs anywhere from $400,000 to $600,000 per year going forward to sustain the fest. The board’s proposal for a vote among members to dissolve the society met with swift public response. The board then delayed its annual general meeting to try to find ways to save the fest and ended up holding the town hall on February 1.
“The Vancouver Folk Music Festival has long been, and is currently, in a financially dire condition,” Zuberbuhler said in a February 6 release. Our main goal as the board has always been to see a strong, sustainable festival. Because of the strong support that has come from the community and our partners we now see the possibility of building that festival.
“Our funders, our partners, other festivals, our members, and our audience have said unequivocally that they want to help with the work of saving the festival,” Zuberbuhler said. “The festival really needs that help now so this is very encouraging.”
While the 2023 festival has been cancelled, Zuberbuhler recommends people interested in helping the fest move forward go to website to find out how to donate, become a member, or volunteer for the event’s rebuild. There is also information available from the virtual town hall meeting along with event’s full recording. The board will continue to take ideas and suggestions on ways to save the folk fest a Thought Exchange tool on the website.
“We want the community to know that the board is dedicated to finding ways to save the Vancouver Folk Music Festival,” Zuberbuhler said. “Now is the time for that support to translate into action so we can build an enduring and sustainable Vancouver Folk Music Festival. We need people to step up now.”
Related Articles
Montreal's Sarah Bronsard creates striking visual poetry at the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival
Co-founders Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling announce their retirement after Vancouver Moving Theatre’s 2024-25 season
Director Ashlie Corcoran and conductor Jacques Lacombe helm spectacular production of Johann Strauss II’s 1960s-set comic operetta
Prize, shared with Calgary’s Toyin Lafenwa Oladele, provides leadership mentoring and $10,000
Program for the evening at the Vancouver Playhouse spans Haydn, Shostakovich, and Mendelssohn
This year’s lineup ranges from comedy by Juno Award–winner Jacob Samuel to a dance world premiere by Livona Ellis and Rebecca Margolick
Debut concert by the powerful new ensemble features world premieres and melodious classics
NFB documentary traces a spoken-word poet's complex relationship with the woman who left her as a child in Jamaica
Wolastoqiyik tenor-composer and Abenaki filmmaker-musician deliver an intimate two-part concert presented in partnership with VIFF and the Vancouver Art Gallery
The new name reflects the ensemble’s commitment to inclusion and embraces gender neutrality
Annual fest’s founders, Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi, step down from leadership roles after more than two decades
In a copresentation by Cellar Music Group, Pelt and his four-piece band play experimental songs off his latest record, Tomorrow’s Another Day
Maestro mesmerizes audiences with soulful lyrics and virtuosity on Spanish and electric guitars, piano, violin, and Andean and Nordic flutes
Alexander Weimann’s fresh take on Bach’s “apex” of Baroque keyboard music is set to open Early Music Vancouver season
Director Lucas van Woerkum will edit and adapt his film to the orchestra’s performance in real-time, in program that includes Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Morlock’s Night, Herself
Still Moon Arts Society artistic director Carmen Rosen realized her vision of a lantern procession through the park
Organization’s 51st year of programming opens on September 27 with Ugandan electronic musician Afrorack and closes with Toronto-based artist SlowPitchSound
Multimedia show immerses audiences in the intimacies of the Juno-winning musician’s Salluit community, located in the very north of Nunavik
Festival celebrates lead-up to 20th-annual edition with fundraising campaign at Hastings Racecourse & Casino that features both a live auction and online bidding
Toronto dancer’s full-length multidisciplinary work is about a woman’s struggle to find her place within a foreign artform
Also appearing at the Indigenous-led festival are makers of everything from clothing to cookies
Pacific Baroque Orchestra performs a new arrangement of the variations which incorporates Johann Gottlieb Goldberg’s Trio Sonata No. 4 in C Major
Program includes an enchanting Stravinsky ballet score, romantic Rachmaninoff, and late composer Jocelyn Morlock’s mysterious Night, Herself
Highlights include Figure humaine by Francis Poulenc as well as world premieres
Family-friendly festivities include a concert starring Filipino mezzo-soprano Renee Fajardo
Singer Behind the Song series presentation in collaboration with UBC Opera will also feature an exclusive interview and masterclass
Ahead of her Come Toward the Fire festival performance, the JUNO award-winner shares how writing her latest album, Boundless Possibilities, helped her heal from loss and trauma