2024 Cathedral Village Arts Festival

Festival season has officially started! What festival do you look forward to? Cathedral Village Arts Festival? Mosaic? Regina Folk Festival? Swamp Fest? Frost? Storytellers Festival? Fringe Festival? There are so many to choose from. All with their own charms. It’s no secret that one of my top favourites is the Cathedral Village Arts Festival.

This year felt like a celebration to me. The first time I attended CVAF was ten years ago. That year, I just attended the weekend festivities. I was still new to coming to Regina, especially on my own. I even got myself lost by going the opposite way that Google Maps was telling me. Google Maps needs a feature that yells “YOU’RE GOING IN THE WRONG FUCKING DIRECTION!”

For the first time in years, I attended the kickoff parade and picnic at Les Sherman Park. After some minor complications with buses and having to take a cab, I finally got to where the parade was and close to the park. I set up my folding chair beside an older couple. We talked about the festival and want we looked forward to.

Soon, the sounds of horns, drums, and other music filled the air. I stood up to watch the parade go by. I saw several friends taking part, but I didn’t want to interrupt them, so I didn’t wave to them. At the end of the parade, I walked with the crowd of people who were walking to the park. I got teary-eyed as I remembered doing this the first year I attended the festival. For context, the parade used to be on Saturday during the street fair. That year, I walked with the parade to Holy Rosery Park.

Once I got to the park, I set up my folding chair near the stage and went to get a hotdog, drink, and a cookie. When I have my lunch, I go back to my chair. I watched the Northern Lights Blue Grass and Old Thyme Music Society Band play old songs. I happily sang along and mildly heckled them. A couple of them were my friends.

Next was Kawacatoose Boys Singers and Dance Troupe. I saw a downsized version during Swamp Fest last year. This time, they brought some of their dancers with them. All the work they put into learning their dances and in their regalia was obvious.

Third up was Ben Winoski. He was joined by his son Morgan, and his friend Jeff Storey. They played an instrumental set, prompting young children to get up and dance. Ben threw a couple of maracas and a tambourine for them to use.

The final act was Morgan Moats. I saw them play at the downtown library last summer and was immediately hooked. We since talked on Facebook. I was excited to watch another one of their performances. During their set, I sat with their family and friends. I think I even made some new friends myself. Morgan was joined by their friend, Lee who played piano.

On the Tuesday night of the festival, I attended Radiant Reads which was a book launch for Dave Margoshes new book, Simple Carpenter. Honestly, I’ve never heard of him or his book, but after hearing him read some of it, I want to check it out.

After the book launch was Vertigo Open Stage. Erroll Kinistino & The Dog River Band were the featured band this year. The featured author was Isabella Iannetta. After they each preformed, I read a short chapter from my book. The chapter I read was about my first time attending CVAF.

Wednesday was theatre night. The first play was Past Shadows, Present Shades. The play was about African families navigating a new life in Canada and the hardships that come with it. The performance was put on by University of Regina’s Centre for the Socially Engaged.

The second performance was a live radio play of the Sherlock Holmes story “Scandal in Bohemia”. Once again, it was put on by the Regina Irregulars. They meet once a month at the downtown location of the Regina Public Library.

On Thursday, I attended the Regina Folk Festival showcase. When I walked into the Artesian, I was mesmerized by the projections on the stage and ceiling. First up was Wishbook. I’ve seen them listed for lots of shows, but this was my first time seeing them. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think. Maybe I was just that excited for Kyrie Kristmanson and Ka Lok. I think I need to see Wishbook again to decide what I think of them.

Next up was Kyrie Kristmanson. Kyrie was in the early version of Rah Rah then she moved to France. Her set proved how well the sound carries in the Artesian. Kyrie did her set in the middle of the floor, all acoustically. Not even a microphone. I can’t begin to describe how her set made me feel, but I was definitely emotional. Near the end of her set, she asked Marshall Burns to join her and they sang the best version of “Streets of Lorado” that I’ve ever heard. I tried to quietly sing along, but my eyes kept tearing up. I’m sure it was those ninja’s cutting onions again. I hope Kyrie does her set like this again during Rah Rah Revisited at the end of June.

Finally, ka lok took the stage. I’ve seen Dalton Lam play in several bands including but not limited to Bears in Hazenmore, Wolf Willow, Alley Dawgs (RIP), and Megan Nash’s band. This was actually the second time I’ve seen his solo project, ka lok. The first time was during the I Love Artesian fundraiser. This time though, he encouraged everyone to get up and dance which most people did. The highlight of ka lok’s performance was the song he wrote about a troll harassing Bears in Hazenmore online. I’ve had my own experience with trolls in the last while, but that’s another story – perhaps for my book.

I wasn’t sure how, but Friday came fast. Initially, my plan was to stay at the big tent in Holy Rosery Park. Of course, the two performers I wanted to see were first and last. I arrive just before Last Birds start. I’ve seen them several times now. Last Birds are a husband-and-wife duo from North Portal. After their set, I approached them to properly introduce myself. It was so cold that I decided to go to Shannon’s Pub for supper. When I arrived, I was offered a seat at a shorter table. Someone was sitting alone, and I got to join them. When I sat down, I noticed Shannon Drall was there with a friend. At first, I thought Shannon was just hanging out until I notice the microphone. She joked about not being late and I told her that I just came for supper and didn’t know she was performing. This worked out perfectly because when her show was done, it was time for me to walk back to Holy Rosery Park for Marshall Burns & The Beautiful Band.

Marshall’s set was amazing as always. I stood close to the stage with some friends around. During his set, he invited Kyrie to join him for a couple of songs. One of them was “Dead and Gone”. Personally, I think Marshall needs to re-record that song with Kyrie. Don’t get me wrong, I like the version with he did with Kacy Anderson, but this version with Kyrie was something special.

I didn’t take in the Street Fair or anything during the day on Saturday. I was wiped out, but decided to attend the comedy show at The Artesian in the evening. The bartender even joked about me practically living at the Artesian this last week. He wasn’t wrong.

This is first year that there was a stand-alone comedy event during CVAF. All the seats were taken too so hopefully the CVAF committee decides to do something similar next year. The comedy event was sketch comedy vs the stand up comedy I’ve usually seen. The first half was introducing the characters and the second was an election for the Mayor of Cathedral Village. The candidates included one that was paid off by corporations and wanted to build several stadiums in Cathedral Village. There was another one who was a germaphobe and wanted to bring back social distancing. The third candidate was an old man who just wanted gold. The final candidate was a woman who loved soup.

During the intermission, the candidates campaigned. The second half of the show included a debate and the audience participated by cheering and booing. Pieces of paper and crayons got handed out to the audience and so we could vote. I voted for the soup lady. Thankfully, the soup lady won!

This brought CVAF to a close for another year. I was very impressed with the programming this year. There was a lot more variety than other years and something fun to do every night. I look forward to what next year will bring.