Full moon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/09/2016 (3614 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a blue one for people who didn’t get their Harvest Moon tickets earlier.

The 15th annual festival in the community of Clearwater sold out weeks ago, and despite the popularity of the laid-back food-education and music-focused event — check out the pleas online for tickets — there are no plans to expand, say organizers.

“The sense from the people who live out there, the real community members, is this is about as big as they’re comfortable with it getting, otherwise it’s starting to spill out onto people’s yards,” says communications co-ordinator Sheldon Birnie.

“With one road into town and one road out, the services are kind of pushed to the limit with the size that it is, so that’s why the organizers decided a couple years back to cap ticket sales around the 1,200 mark, and then with volunteers and organizers and artists, about 1,500 people come into the community of 62 folks or whatever it is… it’s kinda hit the max.”

One of the reasons the Harvest Moon Festival has developed such a strong following is the food-education aspect it has developed in tandem with the international right-to-food movement, which declares food as a human right. To help support this idea, Harvest Moon offers numerous workshops about food production, agriculture, healthful eating and urban farming, among other more lifestyle-based information sessions.

The festival is used as a fundraiser for the Harvest Moon Society, a volunteer-run organization that promotes sustainable living and secure farming practices. The workshops and sessions available to festival-goers, or “mooners,” are in tune with the types of year-round education initiatives the society runs.

Though the education component is an integral part of the festival’s appeal, the music is what puts the butts in the seats, as they say. This year’s lineup is a bumper crop of diverse artists that range from folk to hip hop to indie to electro and beyond, including familiar names such as Joey Landreth, the Lytics, Scott Nolan, Touching and Sweet Alibi.

One repeat artist is country singer-songwriter Ridley Bent, who makes his fourth visit to the festival this year. He keeps returning partially because his wife, Molly McCracken, is involved with the organization, but also because “it’s such a good time.”

“I have performed inside and outside, in warm weather and cold; I have had large bands backing me up and done acoustic sets — the audience has always been amazing,” he says. “It is my favourite festival to play and I look forward to playing on the newly built stage.”

The new stage is a permanent addition to the festival site this year that has organizers and volunteers (especially the ones involved in setup and tear down) very excited. It’s something Birnie says has the potential to benefit Clearwater year-round, and also acts as a physical representation of the way the festival has found its place within the community.

“There will be a grand opening to commemorate what a permanent part of the community the festival has become,” he says. “I think the stage acts as a bit of a symbol of that — that the community has really embraced the festival and the festival has really become part of the annual cycle of the town of Clearwater.”

The music starts at 7 p.m. Friday and wraps up at 4 p.m. Sunday. More information, including the full schedule and camping dos and don’ts, can be found at harvestmoonfestival.ca. Clearwater is located 200 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @NireRabel