Special Event: The Fearless Festival Needs You

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Special Event: Fearless Fest #2 Looking For Volunteers

Held in Pigeon Park, the Fearless Festival is a daring project put on by the Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network and the Community Arts Council of Vancouver.

Now in it's second year, the festival is looking for volunteers for all aspects of planning including promotion before the event.
The next planning meeting is set for Thursday, June 12th at 9:30am at Carnegie Community Centre (3rd floor). For more information call 604-788-8340 or email the festival coordinator at srduncan@shaw.ca for more details.



www.fearlessfest.blogspot.com

Fearless Fest on TV

The Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network Film and Video
(DTES-CAN-FV) cluster is pleased to present Fearless TV #8 for broadcast premiere in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley on $haw cable 4, the community channel:

Wednesday, September 12 & 19 @ 8:00pm
Saturday, June 15 & 22 @ 3:00am (early morning)

This show features highlights of the Fearless Festival performances at Pigeon Park on July 1, 2007. Included are Michelle Richard and Nightlife, Gwen Lagimodiere, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Terri Williams and Poco Locos.

Thanks to Gallery Gachet, ACCESS Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Chinese Canadian National Council
(CCNC) Pan-Asian Network, Carnegie Community Centre, Downtown Eastside Residents' Association (DERA), National Anti-Racism Council of Canada
(NARCC) and Status Through Action Towards Unity and Solidarity
(STATUS) Coalition and British Columbia Arts Council.

They suggest you make copies off the air. In time, they will be putting the shows online.

Fearless TV - shamelessly promoting our friends, neighbours and community. If you are fearless, this is your TV!

On The Tube: Fearless TV #5

The Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network Film and Video
(DTES-CAN-FV) cluster is pleased to present Fearless TV #5 for broadcast premiere in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley on $haw cable 4, the community channel:

Wednesday, July 11 @ 8:00pm
Saturday, June 14 @ 3:00am (early morning)

This show:

1. Paul Ryan (CAN-FV) with Sister Elizabeth Kelliher, president of the Downtown Eastside Resdidents' Association (DERA) discuss service and comforting the afflicted. A member of the order of Franciscan Sisters of Attonement, Sister Elizabeth is a well-known advocate for more affordable housing and relief of poverty in the DTES.

2. Suzi Bekkattla, a filmmaker and First Nations Support Worker,
offered this engaging short film (11min.) of a media project with
elementary students from Hastings Community School. Videography by Trey Huston and edited by Jim Norman.

3. Fearless Festival (45min.): Taped on location in Pigeon Park. Sharon Kravitz of the organising committee, Jamie of the Pigeon Park committee, Sam George with traditional welcome, Michelle Richards and Nightlife and Genetics. We are hoping to broadcast the whole festival on over the summer. Stay tuned.


Fearless TV is the result of the perseverance and hard work of volunteers of the Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network Film and Video cluster (CAN-FV). Fearless TV #5 is a one hour show going out to 670,000 cable boxes. Its broadcast shows what can be done in a few months by a group of dedicated people with minimal resources. The first meeting took place February 14 this year and we have used primarily community television resources available to everyone if they can access it.

Thanks to Gallery Gachet, ACCESS Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Chinese Canadian National Council
(CCNC) Pan-Asian Network, Carnegie Community Centre, Downtown Eastside Residents' Association (DERA), National Anti-Racism Council of Canada
(NARCC) and Status Through Action Towards Unity and Solidarity
(STATUS) Coalition.

Please make copies off the air. In time, we will be putting the shows online. There's much interesting times in store for Fearless TV over the next year. New volunteer intake workshop to be announce in a month.

Fearless TV - shamelessly promoting our friends, neighbours and community. If you are fearless, this is your TV!

Found Wisdom

Many of you may have noticed that Turk's Coffee is getting a bit of a face lift. I was standing surveying the progress with a couple of the shop's regulars when i noticed this little bit of wisdom hidden in one of the old door frames. Cool, huh?

By the way, owner Brian Turko and Milano Coffee (Turk's parent company) were great supporters of the recent Fearless Fest, held in Pigeon Park last Sunday. Their contribution made it possible for the festival to hire musical wizard Michael Louw for the day, and not to mention give the volunteers a proper caffeine jolt Sunday morning.

Special Event: Fearless Festival Sets Its Stages!

Hip, young rapping sisters Genetics are just one of the great acts getting ready to kick off the 1^st Annual Fearless Festival happening July 1^st at Pigeon Park.

The line-ups on both the Pigeon Park main stage and the Coop Radio Courageous Words stage at Sunday’s event is eclectic and rapid-fire.

Other main stage acts include performances by City Opera, Poco Locos, The Rockin’ Guys, Dalannah Bowen, Heidi Morgan and Nightlife, which features Michelle Richard, who will also MC the day’s mainstage event.

Commercial Drive poet Leanne Sjodin, coordinator and host of the Coop Radio “Courageous Words” stage has also assembled an impressive roster of talent, including Roger Blenman & Chris Perrotte, Slam favourites Sean McGarragle and Brendan McLeod, plus Kevin Wilkie, Anne Miles, Adam Sheepbelly, Kagan Goh, Peter LaGrand and Bryn Williams. This stage will be broadcast live on Coop Radio 102.7fm and will feature the premiere performance of two new radio plays by East Vancouver’s notorious Theatre in the Raw.

There will be stuff for kids, bicycle decorating, break dancing demonstrations and more. The fun starts at 3pm at Pigeon Park with opening ceremonies and the national anthem led by Michelle Richard.

For a complete list of events, go here…

On July 1^st, Be Fearless!

Proudly supported by the City of Vancouver, Office of Cultural Affairs, The British Columbia Arts Council The Community Arts Council of Vancouver, the Community Arts Network and the Canadian Unitarian Council.

http://FEARLESSFEST.blogspot.com

Terminal City Rollergirls Take On Security At Fearless Fest

Andi Struction (Andrea Fraser), Machine Gun Sally (Sonia Nielsen), Candy Scrapple (Tonee Venittelli) and league president Micki Mercury (Michelle Lamouroux – pictured below) of the Terminal City Rollergirls don the Fearless Fest brand in preparation for the July 1^st festivities. Photos: Manuel Avila

Vancouver, BC

In a bold move, the Fearless Festival - held on East Hastings St., in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside - asks members of the Terminal City Rollergirls to head up Security for the Canada Day event.

“The organizers of the festival were adamant that Security not be dealt with in a heavy-handed or militaristic kind of way,” coordinator for the event, Steve Duncan said.

“While they recognise personal safety and security are important issues, particularly in that neighbourhood, they saw no need to deal with it in a way that would be intimidating to the people who make the area their home. When one committee member suggested an all-girl security team, the first thing that popped into my head was ‘Who are more fearless than the Rollergirls?”

“I think having them on board sends out a really good message to the community …and to other people who might be considering volunteering but may be concerned about safety, too.”

“I was glad that they could fit us into their busy schedule,” Duncan said. The East Vancouver flat-track derby league has lots of events underway, including their own benefit on July 4^th at the Marine Club, to help send the members of the league to a bout in Edmonton.

When concerns were voiced that the Rollergirls might not be trained to deal with the numerous possible problems that could present themselves, Duncan agreed.

“That’s why we are bringing in experts from Carnegie Community Centre for several years and who know what to expect. They’ll be speaking at the volunteer orientations, and answering any questions people might come up with. Besides, we’re not asking anyone to do the police’s job. They’ll be close at hand - if we need them.”

For more information about the Terminal City Rollergirls, check out their website at www.terminalcityrollergirls.com.

About the Fearless Festival

On July 1^st Pigeon park and Hastings Street from Carrall to Columbia is party central - celebrating the creativity, talent and history of the Downtown Eastside with music, story, art and dance featuring performances from City Opera, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Carnegie’s Rockin’ Guys, Pocos Locos - and so much more.

For more info call 604-788-8340, email srduncan@shaw.ca or check out the festival blog, http://fearlessfest.blospot.com.

If you are interested in helping out and being fearless like the Rollergirls, come to one of our Volunteer orientations at Carnegie Centre either on Tuesday, June 19^th at 7pm or Saturday, June 23 at noon, or email Barb Fairbrother at barb.fairbrother@gmail.com .

Only Two More Sleeps Until Car-Free Days!

Local Poet Sjodin to Helm Courageous Words Stage

Vancouver’s newest and wildest Canada Day party – the Fearless Festival – is proud to welcome local poet and artist, Leanne Sjodin onto the Fearless team as host and organizer of the Coop Radio "Courageous Words" Stage.
Set to run from 4-7pm on Sunday, July 1st at the Radio Station Café (Columbia and Hastings) and broadcast simultaneously on CFRO 102.7fm.
"Leanne has a passion and poetic aesthetic which I think really compliments what we are trying to do here with Fearless," said festival coordinator Steven Duncan. "I knew when she accepted the position that she’d bring with her interesting writers and great energy. It will be exciting."
To find out how to perform at the Courageous Words Stage please contact Leanne at lanicobb@telus.net or call 253-8468.
About Leanne Sjodin
A humanist with flare, Leanne Sjodin is an emerging poet and fiction writer who finds her inspiration through the beauty and heartbreak of our everyday lives. She spends her days as a high-school English teacher and reports that it is the young who keep our pulse on reality. In pursuit of a vibrant life, she has recently taken up hula hooping.
About the Fearless Festival
From 3 to 9 pm on July 1st Pigeon park and Hastings Street from Carrall to Columbia is party central - celebrating the creativity, talent and history of the Downtown Eastside with music, story, art and dance featuring performances from City Opera, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Carnegie’s Rockin’ Guys - and so much more.
For more info call 604-788-8340, email srduncan@shaw.ca or check out the festival blog,
http://fearlessfest.blospot.com/.
Sponsored in part by the BC Arts Council and the City of Vancouver.

Call For Submissions: Fearless Festival Needs Talent

The 1^st Annual Vancouver Fearless Festival is looking for live entertainment to perform at one of our venues in and around Pigeon Park and up Hastings to Carnegie Centre on Canada Day (July 1) from 3-9pm.

We will be celebrating the people, the history, the music and art of the extraordinary people of the Downtown Eastside.

We want musical groups, theatre, dance, spoken word, children’s performers and entertainers of all types to help us turn the Downtown Eastside into a fun party for people of all ages.

Please send any promotional material to Steve Duncan, Event Coordinator either by email at srduncan@shaw.ca, or by dropping of attention of Steve Duncan at the 3^rd floor administration office,

Carnegie Community Centre
401 Main Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 2T7

We will be offering a limited number of small honorariums (yet to be determined) for acts used on our stages, but we also are encouraging talent come out and try busking along Hastings street and join us in the day’s festivities.

For more info call 604-788-8340, email srduncan@shaw.ca or check out the Fearless Festival blog at http://fearlessfest.blogspot.com.

Job Posting: Volunteer Coordinator

SHORT-TERM JOB AVAILABLE
Volunteer Coordinator
Fearless Festival / Downtown Eastside

Interested persons are invited to submit resumes to Steve Duncan, Fearless Festival Event Coordinator, NO LATER THAN NOON MONDAY MAY 14.

The Fearless Festival is a Downtown Eastside celebration of art and theatre, music and diversity,
history and hope.

It will be held from 3 to 9pm on Canada Day, July 1, 2007.

It will involve community art and performers on stage at Pigeon Park, and in nearby venues. It will involve professionals and volunteers at every level. It will be led by an Event Coordinator.

The Volunteer Coordinator we seek will:

1. find, train, and support volunteers at every level of the Festival;

2. assist the Event Coordinator in fundraising and publicity; and,

3. generally advise and assist in the overall design of the Festival.


The Volunteer Coordinator will be paid an honorarium of $750, and start work on Wednesday May 16, 2007.

INTERESTED IN THE JOB?

Please submit a ‘Letter of Interest and Experience’ and resume to Steve Duncan,

c/o

Carnegie Centre,

srduncan@shaw.ca

NO LATER THAN noon Monday, May 14.