Forget the knitting, the book, and the broom! Time to get out and enjoy some entertainment, Valley style!
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Tonight, (Friday, Feb. 22), at the Duncan Christian Reform Church, music lovers can enjoy a special treat as the Cowichan Valley Concert Band presents a Winter Concert.
The band’s special guests for this event will be Brenda’s Brats Choir, so expect lots of exciting selections from both these talented groups.
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. You can get your tickets at Volume One in Duncan or Bucknucks at Valleyview or at the door. They’re $15 each for adults, $10 for seniors/students, and $35 for a family.
Check out http://www.cvconcertband.org/ for more info.
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Frances Kelsey Secondary School’s theatre program is staging All Shook Up by Joe DiPietro on Feb. 28, March 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9.
Under the direction of Anna Roberts and Jordan Heath, the students will present a musical inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley.
This is a jukebox musical comedy, jam packed with your favourite Elvis tunes, based on William Shakespeare’s 1602 play Twelfth Night.
Roberts is excited about it all.
“It takes place in a small you-never-heard-of town, during the summer of 1955. In a 24-hour period, you’ll see our leather-jacketed roustabout transform the lonely town and its unique characters into craziness with his love, liveliness, and rock n’ roll music,” she says.
With more than 20 hits like ‘Love Me Tender,’ ‘Hound Dog,’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ and ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love,’ this musical is sure to impress. Over 60 students have been rehearsing non-stop to bring you this rabble rousing show. It’s now or never, buy your tickets to come see the jailhouse rock!”
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors. Get them at Mason’s Store in Shawnigan Lake, Frances Kelsey Secondary, Ten Old Books in Duncan, or check out All Shook Up on Eventbrite.com.
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The Duncan-Cowichan Festival Society has been hosting a summer festival in downtown Duncan for 40 years, and they’re in a mood to celebrate. The 39 Days of July and the Grande Parade become more and more popular every year, attracting both tourists and locals.
A special fundraiser has been organized on Sunday, Feb. 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at The Old Firehouse Wine Bar in Duncan. With an appetizer bar, a silent auction, door prize, music, history, and some special guests, it should be a fun time for everyone, not just festival enthusiasts.
All proceeds will go to further enhancing and promoting the 39 Days and the parade.
Tickets are $75 each and are available through the bar itself, MNP at 372 Coronation St., the Duncan Showroom, and through the Duncan-Cowichan Festival Society Facebook page.
And, while you’re at the wine bar, why not stay for the album launch by Hanna Elise, which starts at 8 p.m.?
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Heading south a-ways, the Hub at Cowichan Station is the spot for an African Dances Workshop with Merlin Nyakam on Monday, Feb. 25 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Nyakam is a superb practioner of West African dance styles, and teaches dances from Cameroon, Senegal, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.
He also enjoys mixing traditional with modern dance.
Having lived in both Cameroon and France, Nyakam’s teaching combines considerable knowledge, incredible technique, humility, humour and seriousness.
The note I received says he tours around the world as a dancer in modern dance companies in addition to his teaching and it continues, “It is a lot of fun to learn with Merlin, an extremely great cardio workout and you burn tons of calories!”
Tickets are available at Eventbrite.ca. Look for ‘African Dances Workshop with Merlin Nyakam’ there. Ticket sales end Feb. 23, though, so get moving if you want to get moving.
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Finally, jams are coming back to the Elks in Duncan. On Sunday, Feb. 24, March 10, and March 24, from 2 to 5 p.m., you can enjoy the fun of Chuck McCandless and Friends. Sounds like a plan to me. Downtown Duncan is a happening place all year round.