Thank you’s 2026
‘nothing is for free…everything else costs money’
‘community is something we build, nurture, and show up for—not something we simply belong to or don't - community needs be a verb, not just a noun’
The arts and cultural community invites the business sector to join hands to prove we do live in ‘a rather fun place to be’
An endeavour such as programming the different acts to provide 39 days of entertainment ‘free’ to the public is in itself quite a chore.
Locating grants that might be able to accommodate such a request from a 39 day outdoor community music festival is extremely daunting but we have found some new ones over the years
Locating businesses within our community that will step forward with financial and in-kind aid for this humongous project is a whole other task, which is becoming easier each year as more start to realize how much of a positive impact this event has on our community
Here is a list of those that we believe should be recognized as sponsors and contributors in no official order
Sorry if by chance you contributed and were not mentioned
Cowichan Tribes -We would like to begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, the traditional territories of the seven traditional villages: Kw’amutsun, Qwum’yiqun’, Hwulqwselu, S’amuna’, L’uml’umuluts, Hinupsum, Tl’ulpalus.
Province of British Columbia -we acknowledge their financial support to the festival through the Community Gaming Grant program.Duncan CVRD Tourism Cowichan Duncan Dabber’s Bin
City of Duncan - the avenues of communication have opened up immensely, from seeing that we are on their radar when comes to allotting grant monies, to making sure that all the i’s and t’s are crossed properly and easily in our requests for permission make this tenuous job that much more worth it
Municipality of North Cowichan for their coming on board and recognizing the value of the 39 Days of July to its community members by including us in their grant in aid allowances
CVRD – for creating Arts & Culture grants in aid and making sure we were included again this year
Chamber of Commerce / Tourism Cowichan for making sure the information gets out further than the valley about how we are in ‘a rather fun place to be’
City of Duncan Public Works -wow – what a crew, just check out the flower arranging and the daily maintenance in the park as well as the general downtown core - accolades from all of the citizenry for your continued attendance to the beautification our community
Volunteer Fire Departments of the valley- when they rush past our stage on a way to an afternoon or evening call, I remind everyone that they are all volunteers doing this, meaning they drop whatever they are doing to come to the aid of our / their community and so whenever these guys have their ‘boots’ out asking for donations, please, make sure you give generously – and oh yah ...thank you to all the fire trucks for being in our Grande Parade each and every year
The Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives- for being such understanding neighbours, we do encourage locals as well as tourists to check the new and approved valley museum and now all of Canada knows about our awarded train station
The Cowichan Valley Citizen- for getting on the Blues on Tuesdays ‘band’ wagon once again with their in- kind sponsorship and making sure the festival gets the local coverage it deserves
As well as co-sponsoring Wine Down Wednesdays in August in the City Square
VITAL Society – for stepping up to the plate with $10,000 sponsorship to name the stage and sponsor the stage tent in the park, again known as the VITALS Stage in the Park for 2026 ...we will mention it daily from the stage and let everyone know their importance in our community
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre for sponsoring the City Square Stage performance of Steve Poltz concert on Wed. July 29th at 8:30pm and the Redwood Twins at 7:30pm Steve Poltz
Duncan Lions Club for sponsoring the Kid’s in the Park Series at Centennial Park every Thursdays during the festival at 11am for a ½ hour of entertainment for the under 8 and under crowd
The anonymous patron who donated $10,000 to the festival
The many other anonymous patrons-$1000 /$2500
Sponsors City Square Stage 2026 ($1000)
Fri. June 26th 8:30pm - BC Fiddle Orchestra - Duncan Lions Club
Mon. June 29th 8:30pm - Caribbean Dance Party - Richard Dwyer
Wed. July 1st 8:30pm- Brandon Isaak and the Mood Swings- Leigh Wylie
Sat. July 4th 8:30pm -Marimba Musuva - Goldieana Farms
Wed. July 8th 8:30pm -Danielle Lebeau Petersen -The Flower Guys
Sat. July 11th 8:30pm -Rainshadow Al - Duncan Showroom Productions
Tues. July 14th 8:30pm - the Melawmen Collective –anonymous patron
Thurs. July 16th 8:30pm - Connie Kaldor - Sands Funeral Chapel
Sat. July 18th 8:30pm - TNT - Red Arrow Brewery
Mon. July 20th 8:30pm - Kaeley Jade Band - Rotary Lunch Hour
Wed. July 22nd 8:30pm - Blue Moon Marquee - Old Firehouse Wine Bar
Sat. July 25th 8:30pm - Nicholas Campbell -Jaq’s on Queens
Wed. July 29th 8:30pm - Steve Poltz - Cowichan Performing Arts Centre
Nanaimo Blues Society for $200 sponsorships for each of the Sunday Nite Blues concerts
Sun. June 28th 8:30pm Boney Fields
Sun. July 5th 8:30pm Ethan Askey & the Elevators
Sun. July 12th 8:30pm Ann Vriend and friends
Sun. July 19th 8:30pm Rick Taylor and friends
Sun. July 26th 8:30pm James Vickers Band
Sun. Aug.2nd 8:30pm Nigel Mack and the Blues Attack
JP Construction Supplies for once again sponsoring an evening in the park this year on Duncan Day July 11th at 6pm with David Vest and his whole Band – performing the Dawn of Rock n Roll -90 minute concert
VIU for sponsoring Oktopus on Sat. July 11th at 4pm for a 90 minute concert
Duncan Garage Cafe- across the street from the park, they are open to 8pm daily during the festival-just cause – they also supply us with gift cards for our performers at discount pricing –owners of the building are true community supporters -we appreciate them immensely-
Craig Street Brew Pub /Red Arrow Brewery for working with us to make sure there is hospitality provided to some of the many performers
Red Arrow Brewery for hosting City Square Stage Previews on their patio every Wed. during the festival - July 8th- Ann Vriend / July 16th – Funky Lowdown / July 23rd – Nicholas Campbell / July 29th - Danika Portz & Steve Mitchell
Easy Move Containers - for providing storage space for the DCFS during our off season, they are also providing an onsite storage container during the festival this year
Oceanfront Suites for their generous aid in supplying lodging for Steve Poltz for his Wednesday July 29th 8:30pm concert in City Square and for Colin Linden and his wife for his June 17th kick off performance at the Duncan Showroom
Cowichan Valley Arts Council – for spearheading an art pop up exhibit /sale on July 25th on Station Street and Craig Street from 10am till 4pm - the arts standing together
DCFS Board of Directors –Jeff Downie - president / Ian Fairwell-director /Jeff Leggat – director /parade coordinator / John Falkner- director / Seth Godbey -director / / Jake Teufel / Rick Martinson –consulting secretary-treasurer for understanding their purpose and by joining hands with the community to prove we do live in ‘a rather fun place to be’ –
Oh ya, and Angie Dalton for making financial sense of it all
Past DCFS Board of Directors- as always, there are people who step up to the plate to volunteer their enthusiasm, their expertise and their time to make sure that a festival in downtown Duncan takes place- this is the board’s 47th year of inception, there have been many before us who have brought good will and a parade to the community, you know who you are and you are hereby saluted –a big 47th anniversary hug sent your way.
Jeff Leggat /Katherine Devine - for doing their best to make the parade almost financially feasible this year- we can plan way ahead for next year
All the Businesses that took out ads this year –it is a wonderful way to show support for what DCFS does, so please stop in and thank them for their support, they will luv the attention
Mark's Instant Sign Shop Ltd – for being once again so considerate in their pricing and our time lines for our main signage and all that we need
Andrew Brown - for taking on our schedule program layout this year again, even without much adherence to deadline by us
Anton from 3-TEC for getting our web page together while working under our tardy time constrictions
SUN FM- 89.7 for their continued support with their on air event announcements of our scheduling...stay tuned to SUN -FM with their new format, they is always a good way to know what is up to date in the local news and entertainment in our valley
Rob McKenzie for once again coming up with a great design for our front cover, our billboards, posters and social media
All the past sponsors- to those over the years who have kept us afloat with their ads and sponsorships, we thank you muchly...
all the volunteers - warmth sent to all, whether it be for a minute, an hour or days in a row in helping us move all the chairs and equipment as we set up and tear down each day . Not to mention running the many errands when needed
You, the audience- for listening to ‘new to you’ music every day, for having an open mind, for sharing space / smiles and conversations, for being attentive to the performers pouring out their soul on stage, for filling the dance floor when you are requested and for being continuously generous when the ‘donation’ box comes around
…All the Performers- yes, much extra special thanks to the hundreds of performers for making this festival become what it was designed be all about… they have chosen to work for much less than should be expected of them …and doing it with smiles . So if performers have merch / CD'S and such for sale, please support them if you can and do join them in their various local gigs throughout the valley / follow their FB pages / show up at their gigs.
Community- how the arts sector does create positive effects upon the everyday living of the people in our community
Duncan Showroom- for being the ‘home base’ for the 39 Days of July, almost all of the musicians / bands have ‘auditioned’ at the Showroom with their previous performances and all have become close friends and respect what is being done there – also for making sure the festival stage structure and the three 20’ x 20’s and the 20’ x 30’ tents plus all the 10’x20’& 10’ x 15’ &10’ x 10’s tents and extra gear as needed each year are ‘donated’ at a much reduced cost to the DCFS
Ted Cadillac aka Tim – in his 12th year of being the sound guy from heaven, so many shows in these 39 days each year and then into working the Duncan Showroom live stream on youtube nightly concerts the rest of the year...a great addition to our community and the national music scene
Lisa-Marie /Malakai / Murray / Brendin / Georgia -for help in taking down the stages at night whenever they can
Longevity John Falkner- for continuing to be the Longevity John he is