COURTENAY—Over 7,000 music lovers gathered in the beautiful Comox Valley this past weekend (July 11-12) to enjoy music from around the world—while heightening their eco-awareness—at the 2010 Vancouver Island Music Festival.
CUPE members from across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland were among the throngs who converged on the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds to share in great roots and world music at a festival dedicated to presenting the greenest cultural event in Canada.
Both CUPE BC and CUPE 556 (Comox Valley Regional District) were sponsors of the “Living Green” initiative. “Living Green” projects include:
• The Vancouver Island Tap Water Project, which eliminates disposable plastic water bottle use on site;
• Public education and comprehensive sorting, composting and recycling of all site waste;
• Working with and promoting local and sustainable food producers, fisherman and distributors; and
• A plastics-free policy for on-site food operation.
CUPE support for arts and culture will be celebrated again in the coming days. This coming weekend (July 16-18), CUPE BC is supporting the “Music to Change the World” session at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. And from July 23-25, at the Islands Folk Festival in Duncan, CUPE BC and CUPE Locals 606 and 358, along with the Vancouver Island District Council, are sponsoring the delivery of public tap water to festival goers on the mid Island.
View photos.