Thank you’s 2025
‘Nothing is for free…Everything else costs money’
The arts and cultural community inviting 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 Dabber Bingo Society -for including the festival in its 2025 granting process…
Creative BC Arts and Cultural Division for recognizing our festivals value to the community with a $25,000 grant rovincial Gaming 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
Tourism Cowichan for making sure the information gets out further than the valley about how we are in ‘a rather fun place to be’
Downtown Duncan Business Improvement Area Society -for their moral support and assistance with coordinating activities. They do a lot for the downtown businesses making sure everyone knows they exist so remember, please Shop Locally
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
VITAL Society – for stepping up to the plate with $10,000 sponsorship to name the stage and sponsor the stage tent in the park, now known as the VITALS Stage in the Park for 2025 ...we will mention it daily from the stage and let everyone know their importance in our community
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre for sponsoring the 8:30pm July 12th City Square Stage performance of Miguelito Valdes & Orquesta Obatala – a trip to Cuba without the airport hassles and the airfare
Khowutzun Forest Services for sponsoring not only the Tzinquaw Dancers on Canada Day at 2pm in the park but also sponsoring Crystal Shawanda on the City Square Stage on Thurs. July 24th at 8:30pm
Old Firehall Wine Bar for sponsoring a night in City Square Stage Series - Jane Siberry - July 15th - 8:30pm
Red Balloon Toy Shop for sponsoring the Centennial Park Kid’s Stage 2025 -musical treats for the young ones every Wednesday at 11am in Centennial Park during the 39 Days of July 2025 the DCFS presents a ½ hour concert for the under 9 crowd on the little mound past the Lion’s Club Water Park
Rotary Club of Duncan for sponsoring Eugene Smith and the White Boys on Mon. July 7th at 8:30pm on the City Square Stage
JP Construction Supplies for once again sponsoring an evening in the park , this year the opening day with Arbutus Roots at 6pm and Pozitive Rebellion at 7pm
Duncan Garage Cafe- across the street from the park, they bring on extra staff to deal with the festival overflow and they make sure to give back-we appreciate them immensely- they also supply us with gift cards for our performers –congrats to the new owners of the building
Craig Street Brew Pub for working with us to make sure there is hospitality to some of the many performers
Fickle Pickle – Jenni O stepping forward and aiding us in making sure the marching bands from the parade will have sandwiches again this year before their 1pm concert in front of the VITALS Stage in the park on July 12th - she too has provided hospitality vouchers for performers
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 Jane Siberry and crew for their Tuesday July 15th concert in City Square
Peninsula Co-op for their donation of gas cards for some of our out of town performers
Cowichan Valley Arts Council – for spearheading an art pop up exhibit /sale on July 26th on Station 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 45th 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 43rd anniversary hug sent your way.
Jeff Leggat - for the 3rd year making sure that Duncan still has an annual parade, hustling and bustling bringing in sponsors and creating the hype that comes with a parade
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
The Great Canadian Super Store- for making sure we have water for the performers and cake to share with our community for Canada Day
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 11th 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
Aiden– for all his hard work over the years setting up the stages / tents and anything else that requires his hydraulic like strength (he also has a leather headband as part of the ‘crew’)
Lisa-Marie and Malakai for help in taking down the stages at night whenever they can
Longevity John Falkner- for continuing to be the Longevity John he is