White Rock and South Surrey Culture Crawl bigger than ever

It may have started small, but the White Rock and South Surrey Culture Crawl – returning Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 – has grown to become a Semiahmoo Peninsula-wide event.

It’s something that’s pointed to with no little pride by White Rock Coun. Elaine Cheung, who was instrumental in formulating the city’s cultural strategic plan as a member of the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee for four years before she was elected in 2022.

“Michele Partridge and I were on the committee, and we also run the Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance (PACA),” she says,

The city didn’t have a lot of arts showcase events prior to that, she said, and when the city came to PACA looking for suggestions, the idea of a ‘culture crawl’ in partnership with Semiahmoo Arts came up.

“The idea was for it to be just White Rock in 2021, when we started,” Cheung says.

It was a shaky time to be starting a new venture – the city was just re-emerging from the COVID-19 protocols, but Cheung and the city’s cultural development manager, Rebecca Forrest, agreed the pandemic had created a positive appetite for more creative involvement and cooperation in the arts community.

“Rebecca came on staff at that time, and she took it and ran with it,” Cheung says.

“In its fifth year, it’s now a White Rock and South Surrey event. There are over 39 programmed events, most of them free except for a couple of ticketed events, and this year we even have our city shuttle bus connecting all of them.”

The shuttle bus service consists of a White Rock route (linking the City of White Rock parking lot at 1510 Johnston Rd. with White Rock Museum and Archives at the waterfront and the Kent Street Activity Centre) and a South Surrey route (linking South Surrey Recreation and Arts Centre with the Crescent Beach Pop-Up Gallery and Historic Stewart Farm and Totest Aleng Indigenous Learning House).

The routes interconnect at the South Surrey Recreation and Arts Centre, and run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, although both Cheung and Forrest urge people to pick up leaflets or check the schedule at whiterockcity.ca for end of service times.

“We wanted to make sure as many people as possible could get to the events, but we wouldn’t want anybody to get left behind,” Forrest says.

Participants will have plenty to see, hear and experience during the two-day event.

“It’s a real grass roots initiative,” Forrest says, noting the City of Surrey was – like everybody else they approached about the Crawl – eager to be involved.

“But it would be nothing without our artists. They are the ones who make the event and offer fascinating programming, sharing their joy in creating, and showing who they are.”

Forrest says organizers are pleased this year to welcome Semiahmoo First Nation artist Easton Arnouse as the Uptown Gallery artist-in-residence (Central Plaza, 15140 North Bluff Rd.) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, exhibiting his art and giving insights into his process through live demos.

“He’s very excited to be part of the event, and he’ll also be at the Uptown Gallery throughout October,” she says.

A lot of new offerings will also be available, Cheung notes.

The White Rock City Orchestra, for example, will allow the public to experience a rehearsal for their Christmas/New Year’s concert from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Centennial Park Leisure Centre (14600 North Bluff Rd.).

“They’ve done it before, but it’s a rare thing,” Cheung says.

That venue will also host a live show, From Rationing to Ravishing, showcasing vintage clothing from the 1940s and 1950s, curated and introduced by well-known fashion historian Ivan Sayers on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (a $20 ticketed show, it requires pre-registration at whiterockcity.ca/register).

“We’re also partnering with SOURCES Community Resources, who were planning to do a dance event already,” Forrest says.

That partnership has resulted in Cultures in Motion, a celebration of global diversity through dance and art from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at White Rock Community Centre.

Live performances will showcase cultural talents from Asia, Latin America, South Asia and more.

At the same time at the community centre, visitors can also visit Kaleidoscope, a curated gathering of all kinds of artisans from White Rock and South Surrey offering a “vibrant mix of unique wares where you will find something for everyone” – while musical interludes by local performers in a diverse variety of styles will be interspersed with the other activities.

“We also reached out to the White Rock Farmers Market, so they will be part of the Culture Crawl on Sunday,” said Cheung.

Other White Rock attractions include White Rock Players Club matinee performances of the suspense plays The Turn of the Screw and Murderers from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Oceana PARC Playhouse; an Oktoberfest performance by the Gordanairs on Saturday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Blue Frog Studios (both also ticketed events) and improv and comedy performances at Peninsula Productions studio theatre at Centennial Park on Saturday and Sunday (pre-registration required).

Nomad Gallery and the artists collective The Shop Next Door will also have open house events both days, while White Rock Library will host a rehearsal of the Naked Stage production In The Cards Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a reading of The Littlest Dinosaur with children’s authors Bryce Raffle and Steven Kothlow, Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m.

Kent Street Activity Centre will host demonstrations and shows by Semiahmoo Arts Society, the Kent Street Choristers, Kent Street Players, Peninsula Woodcrafters and the South Surrey White Rock Art Society, while White Rock Museum and Archives on Marine Drive will be giving insights into cataloguing new collection items and preserving cultural heritage.

Also on White Rock beach there will be a demonstration and studio tours of wood-turning at 900 Dolphin St. both Saturday and Sunday, while the an Art Walk and street entertainment will enliven the promenade on both days.

In South Surrey, multiple artists’ studios and galleries will be holding open houses during the Crawl – including G & S Company, Semiahmoo Arts at the South Surrey Recreation and Arts Centre, Jon Lavoie, Tiffany and Tiffany stained glass, Semiahmoo Potters Studio, Totest Aleng Learning House, Historic Stewart Farm, Karin Olsson Art, Bayview Arts Collective, Seaspirit Studio Potteryand Nature’s Delight (Freda Lombard).

Special events in South Surrey will include Threads and Rhythms a celebration of food, fashion, music and poetry; the flute-guitar duo Silverwood at Mink Chocolates and Café at Grandview Crossing(Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.); the Three Little Birdies intergenerational collective at The Crescent Beach Pop-Up Gallery and a talk about murals and more by Carla Maskall, creator of the iconic sunflower mural at Sunflower Café, at Cresecent Beach (Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.).

For full information of days, times, locations of all events (plus the shuttle service), visit whiterockcity.ca