Cranfest XIII – July 19-21, 2024

Midsummer Full Moon Weekend:

July 19th – 21st, 2024

Goodbye, Dear Friend Alex – This one’s for You ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ™๐Ÿค˜๐Ÿ’›

May Your Beautiful Bright Smile Live On In Our Hearts, And In Our Smiles Too

Annual Full-Moon Family Campout Music & Games Weekend


  • Friday 2pm til Sunday Around 11:00a
  • Ticket Info: order tickets on our Get Tickets Page. **(TICKETS ARE SOLD ONLINE AND IN ADVANCE ONLY, NO TICKET SALES AT THE DOOR)**
  • Ticket numbers are limited to encourage a Very Kid & Family Friendly Atmosphere and to foster local community connection with one another. If you’d like to ensure you can attend, you will want to get your tickets early, before they sell out. If they’ve already sold out, well, we’re sorry bout that, and we’ll hope to see you next year ๐Ÿ™‚
    • Tickets prices are $40* for the weekend, with a much smaller number of tickets available for just Friday at $20* and just Saturday for $30*
      • * You are very encouraged to participate in our 4:30-6:00pm Potluck Dinners, with an emphasis on bringing a dish made with locally-sourced food from our local farms, farmstands, and markets. You’ll be able to purchase a discounted Cranfest ticket with a commitment to arrive early (prior to 3:45) and bring a dish to share at our potluck made with food sourced from a local farm/farmstand/market. The goal is to encourage people to arrive early to connect with one another with shared food and to enjoy the early musicians while supporting our local food growers. If you can commit to arrive early (prior to 3:45pm) with a local dish to share, you’ll be able to select one of the discounted ticket prices. More info on the Schedule page ๐Ÿ™‚
    • When Accompanied By Adults, Tickets for Kids Under 16 Are Free – The emphasis is on families sharing time here together – please plan to accompany your kids – and bring their grandparents too! (Please remember to select free kid tix for your kids when purchasing yours so their names are also on the check-in list with yours)
    • Onsite Parking & Camping included (no neighbourhood street parking at all please)
    • Please plan ahead and Keep all Pets, including Dogs & Cats & Kangaroos, as well as Glass Bottles (barefoot kids abound!) Safely At Home, Thanks!
  • While it’s ok to share news of our little family campout music weekend privately and appropriately with your very good friends/families, please keep in mind this is a Local Community/Family Connecting Weekend geared for All Ages – from Babies to Great-Grandparents. As word has spread, we have begun to reach max capacity. Please be mindful when considering attending yourself and when sharing this event with others that the following fundamental aspects are able to be respected and upheld:
    • This is Not a party scene, it’s Not a rave, it’s Not a place to trip out – it’s for Raising Our Kids (& Ourselves) Together in Community by Modelling Respectful and Responsible Behaviour throughout the Entire Weekend – no exceptions.
    • Due to extreme summer fire danger on our island and to ensure we are providing positive and responsible role models for our kids – No Cigarettes, Vapes, or Campstoves. We now have a zero tolerance No Smoking Policy on any of the festival grounds – including roads, driveway, forests, camping zones and inside tents. If you must smoke, the only place to do so safely will be inside your closed vehicle or RV – no exceptions. If you plan to cook, please do so inside your RV or on our bbq grills.
      • Over the years weโ€™ve found a surprisingly large number of stray cigarette butts in the dry grass and forest, despite our attempts to provide a safe designated smoking space. It’s up to each of us to help keep us all safe from fire, and if you must smoke, please hop in your vehicle before doing so and put your cigarette butts out in your own ashtray. If you think you might feel the need to disrespect and violate this safety policy, honestly, and respectfully, please ask yourself if your attendance is truly a good fit for our little family weekend. We sincerely hope it can be, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Disrespectful and irresponsible behaviour has no place at this event – please maintain your ability to Make Good Decisions throughout your entire stay. Thank you.
    • Please Pack Out Everything You Bring, Pickup Trash & Recyclables, Cleanup Your Dishes, and Leave All Glass at Home or inside your vehicle.
    • Thanks for your discretion and for everybody helping us to ensure that the fundamental aspects of creating a Safe and Fun and Responsible environment for all is upheld. That’s what this whole little thing is all about ๐Ÿ™‚
Mapstone – Dreams

Schedule

Cranfest XIII 2024 Lineup ๐Ÿ™‚


  • FRIDAY, JULY 19thGuest arrival starts at 2:00 for camping setup and kid/adult games throughout the afternoon
    • 4:30-6:00 – Community Potluck
    • Live Music from 3:45~11:00
      • MAIN STAGE
      • TWEENER LOUNGE STAGE: (in between main stage acts):
      • 11:00ish~1:00 – Outdoor Movie: School of Rock (free popcorn after last band)
      • 11:00ish-8:00a – SuperQuiet Sleepy Time out of respect for our neighbours, sleeping little kids/babies/parents, and our hard working volunteers needing rest
  • SATURDAY, JULY 20thkid/adult games throughout the day, maybe a walk down to the beach/dock in the morning
    • 4:30-6:00 – Community Potluck
    • Live Music from 3:45~11:00
    • 11:00ish-1:00ish – Dreamland Silent Disco w/3-Track Headphones
      • Track 1 – Jobu Disco, Track 2 – Jobu Rock, Track 3 – Oz Fest)
    • 11:00ish-8:00a – SuperQuiet Sleepy Time out of respect for our neighbours, sleeping little kids/babies/parents, and our hard working volunteers needing rest
  • SUNDAY, JULY 21st @ Mateada 8:00p – Shameless Plug for our Friends at Mateada & Guayaki – in case you’d like to keep the great weekend music rolling, go check out The Lee Boys & Sade Ewele that night! Highly recommended ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Cranfest Food Options – Community Potluck Dinners and/or BYO Picnic/Food to grill (*No Foodsales Onsite *)
    • **We invite you to bring a locally-sourced-ingredient(s) food dish to share at our Community Potluck Dinners on both Fri & Sat evenings from 4:30-6:00pm. We offer discounted Cranfest ticket prices for participants who are committed to arriving prior to 3:45pm with an ear for our early musicians and a Potluck Dish to share ๐Ÿ™‚
      • If participating in the early arrival potluck is not an option for you, please plan ahead to bring your own picnic to enjoy, and you are also welcome to bring something to throw onto the big BBQ grill trailer while it’s hot between 3:30-7:30
    • We strongly encourage you to support our local farmers!
  • Greg Bellavance Welding‘s Big BBQ trailer grill will be hot from 3:30-7:30 on Fri and Sat – feel free to bring your own favourite local grillables for yourself and your family
  • Weโ€™re happy we can welcome back Roly Poly Rice Balls for some weekend snacks :)
  • Guayaki Yerba Mate has generously supported us since the early days to make their cans available for $4 to Adults Over 16 until 9:00pm
  • Fruit Freezeypops available at the welcome desk throughout the weekend – by donation and free for kids who participate in the festival games decathlon challenge
  • Bicycle Blender Kid-Made Apple Blackberry Slushies
  • We’ll provide some Saturday morning brunch-time Kid-Made Pancakes & coffee around 9:30am
  • We’ll provide some Sunday morning brunch-time self-serve Instant Oatmeal & coffee around 9:30am
  • The Hen and Hound Brasserie and Off the Hook Restaurant are both just down the road by the Fernwood Dock for delicious breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks & drinks – could be a to-go option

  • All Ages Fun Activities Include:
    • Rock Painting Station – BYO Favourite Little Rock
      • Take it home, Gift it to one of your Elders, or add it to our Rock Snake!
    • Elder Card Station – paint & mail the Elders in your life a note – we’ll provide stamps ๐Ÿ™‚
    • Dancing
    • Volleyball
    • Badminton
    • Slack-Lines by James Cowan of the awesome Tsunami Circus
    • Water Misting Trampoline
    • Ping Pong
    • Bocce
    • Kid Bocce
    • Speedball
    • Smashball
    • Tetherball
    • Kubb (New!)
    • Giant Chess
    • Giant Checkers
    • Giant Jenga
    • Croquet
    • Soccer Balls
    • Telescopes
    • Horseshoes
    • Slacklines – Tiki’d up posts by Banana Joe ๐Ÿ™‚
    • Hula Hoops
    • Sack Races
    • 3-Legged Races
    • Kiddie Pool & Playgym
    • Water Squirters & Water Balloon Launchers
    • Propane Firepit

What’s a CranFest?

CranFest is an Annual Salt Spring Island Community Family-Friendly Camp-Out Solar-Powered Full-Moon Non-Profit Live-Music&Art Outdoor-Couch-Popcorn-Movie Astronomical-Adventure All-Ages Multi-Generational Musical-Yoga Reasonably-Priced (Kids Always Free) Festival Celebration Weekend Benefit Thing

What began in 2010 as a one-off SSI Family Co-Op Preschool BBQ has evolved slowly into a recurring community summer weekend event. In our first year, legendary band Lane 31 joined our kid bbq on a whim and played in the dirt and in the dark for some fun and dancing. Questions began the following year about doing it again – and again…

Throughout the ensuing years, we have been very fortunate and grateful to have gathered together a core gang of good friend volunteers who help keep things rolling along by generously donating their time and energy, providing inspiration and great ideas and people-power to pull it all together. Our collaborative intentions have remained focused on keeping this a Family-Friendly and Community-Connecting weekend event where we can continue to raise our kids together, fostering and modelling responsibly fun behaviour.

Although the numbers of friends/families attending and the numbers of musicians performing have increased a bit since our first impromptu evening of live music, we strive to keep the numbers of people attending within the realms of positive family/friend and community connection – we aim to stay reasonably small and respectfully fun.

We’ve been powered by the people and James Cowan’s solar/bike power generator trailer creation, and we are energized by the sun and the great vibes that our very talented musician friends bring to our humble little homemade stage.

We hope you’ll bring your kids and their grandparents and campout for the weekend, it’s a great way to join in on all the fun connecting with friends and families, both old and new.


History

Previous CranFests


2024 CranFest XIII ~ July 28-30 – This one’s for you, Alex

  • SATURDAY, JULY 20th:
    • 4:30-6:00 – Community Potluck
    • Live Music from 3:45~11:00
    • 11:00ish-1:00ish – Dreamland Silent Disco w/3-Track Headphones
      • Track 1 – Jobu Disco, Track 2 – Jobu Rock, Track 3 – Oz Fest

2023 CranFest XII ~ July 28-30 – Alex’s Bright Beautiful Smile up on stage one final time…

Alex
  • SATURDAY July 29th::
    • 4:30-6:00 – Community Potluck

2022 CranFest XI ~ Aug 12-14 – What an awesome giant bunch of kids we all get to be together again


2021 CranFest X ~ Aug 20-22 welcome back into the groove – a truly needed magical respite weekend from global chaos – thank you


2020 CranFest – the year Live Music took a hard break : [


2019 mini-CranFest IX ~ June 29 – throwback to the original CranFest I (scaled back for our wedding year ๐Ÿ™‚ )


2018 CranFest VIII ~ July 27-29 – we all feel so very lucky to be a part of pulling this together year after year. let’s definitely try to keep it small.


2017 CranFest VII ~ July 4-6 – well this thing somehow just keeps getting better and better, so let’s keep it small…


2016 CranFest VI ~ July 15-17 – last year was even awesomer, but maybe we should go back to 2 days…


2015 CranFest V ~ (3-Day Long Weekend) July 31-Aug 2 – last year was awesome, how bout 3 days? and what the hell, why has that sound guy not been shreddin guitar on stage for the last 30 years?


2014 CranFest IV ~ Aug 8-10 – alright, let’s get this thing back up and running. maybe we should even think about having 2 bands this year…


2013 – nope, took a break


2012 CranFest III ~ Aug 11I wonder if The Earthmen would do a reunion show

  • SATURDAY:
    • The Earthmen (SSI/Victoria, BC)

2011 CranFest II ~ Jul 16 that was a fun family campout last year, we should do it again


2010 CranFest I ~ Jul 10 – a little Co-Op Preschool end of year BBQ. Coupla days before: Pete – hey, I know some guys in a band… Mark – oh cool, and I have some sound gear I could bring…

  • SATURDAY:
    • Lane 31 (SSI)
    • Band of Misc Kids (SSI, Vancouver)

CranFest Collaborators

This magically connecting event comes together because of a great little community of good friend volunteers whose participation and collaboration over the years have been Invaluable, Essential, and Very, Very Much Appreciated. These are the people and local businesses to thank for anything and everything that goes on at CranFest:

Mark & Terena & Jackson, Bruce E, Ken L, Michelle F, Ozzy F & friend crew, Vi F & friend crew, John H, Jim & Sheri, Gary & Andrea, Jamie F, Jo & Simon, Shauna D, Dan L, Alex & Sarah-Jane, David M, Harry W, Nic F, Jhafari, Tara & Martin, Dave V, Josh & Jess, Bodie, Gaurang & Chris M, Nigel & Megan, Wendi G, John R, Dennis L, Naomi J, Shay, Johnny A, Shannon & Kalvin, Heather F, Colin L, Pete & Vic, Greg B, Joe A, Ellis & Claire, Aki & Akiko, Nomi L, Daryl C, James C & Steph & the Circus gang, David K, Jack & Candace & Jasper & Jade, Enaunda, Rasha & Nadia, Lara G, Michael K & Suheila, Banana Joe, David M2, Shawn M, & Gary G ๐Ÿ™‚

And these are our community minded businesses that have supported us all along the way – thank you for everything you do for our community, and for our little family music weekend:

Tree House Cafe, Guayaki Yerba Mate, SSI Fruitcicles, Rhonan & SS Water, Dave Vollrath & Living Water Media Services, Fogarty Accounting, Island Escapades (now Coastal Current Adventures), Al’s Gourmet Falafel and Fries, Fix Tacos, Mel & Moonshine Mama’s, Earth Candy Farm, Roly Poly Rice balls, Greg Bellavance Welding, Fernwood Road Cafe, The Hen and Hound Farmstand, Duck Creek Farm, Haidee Hart/Woodshed Provisions, Windsor Farm, Huyen Springrolls, North End Farm, SSI Sea Products

And last but not least, it’s You and your Families, our Community, who bring your kids & their grandparents your smiles and pitch your tents to make sharing this fun weekend experience together such a rewarding and positively connecting event.

Thank you all for helping us raise our kids together. And ourselves, too ๐Ÿ™‚

With more Love & Appreciation than words can express – Ky & Michelle