CENTRE WELLINGTON – What started as a festival about bikes has turned into a festival about community – specifically what makes a healthy, livable community.
The second BeSpoke Festival, Jan. 22 to 25, is just around the corner and local residents are invited to listen to guest speakers, watch films and learn a bit about local community organizations and what they do to enhance well-being, inclusivity and sustainability in Centre Wellington.
Green Lanes is the main organizer of the festival, and its focus is on cycling and active transportation.
But it’s also interested in the broader concepts on which the festival hopes to draw attention.
Organizer John Scott said the festival is attempting to bring the community and organizations together who share a vision for a happier, healthier Centre Wellington.
“The bigger, philosophical part of this is that so many people in Centre Wellington put a lot of effort into building a better Centre Wellington. Township staff work hard at it too,” he said.
“But we need to think holistically. We need to think about health and mental health, the environment and climate change. We can work on those issues doing what we already do if we take a broader look.”
The festival spans four days and five venues in Elora and Fergus.
The festival kicks off with Dr. Steven Clarke, who will make a keynote speech at Melville United Church in Fergus at 7:30pm courtesy of Neighbourwoods.
Clarke is a licensed landscape architect, urban designer and associate professor in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph. The topic of this speech is designing healthy communities through agricultural urbanism.
Centre Wellington Native Plant Gardening is offering two winter sowing workshops. The first is on Jan. 23 from 2 to 5pm at the Elora Centre for the Arts. The second is on Jan. 24 from 10am to 1pm at 525 Union St. E. in Fergus.
The aim of this workshop is to plant native plants, which attract and feed native pollinators that are crucial to agriculture, backyard gardening, and the environment in general.
Seed sowing can happen in winter, says organizer Kari Olsen, and we all reap the benefits when flowers start to grow in spring.
On Jan. 23, Green Lanes is bringing keynote speaker Nadine Ibrahim, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Waterloo.
Ibrahim has a special interest in building sustainable cities. She speaks at 7pm at the Elora Centre for the Arts. Her topic: “The future is now, so what are we building?”
Scott said Green Lanes is offering a private session for township staff and council with Ibrahim, who can offer insights to planning, roads, water and wastewater departments on building sustainable cities.
“How do we build a community that’s climate resilient, equitable and healthy? Typically engineers think of their building project and don’t think of these things. But when they do, it can have a positive impact at little or no extra cost,” Scott said.
Jan. 24 is the biggest day of the festival, with several events going on.
Green Lanes is hosting a community bike fixing event from 9am to noon at the Elora Legion.
Over the course of the year, the organization has collected used bikes, which will be repaired at the bike fixing event and then will be offered for free or pay what you can at the Elora Farmers Market in the spring.
“This is a real feel-good event,” Scott said.
Anyone wanting to be a fixer that day can email greenlanes.cw@gmail.com.
The Beatty Park celebration of Ice and Snow is also on Saturday from 2 to 4pm at Beatty Park in Fergus. A group of volunteers has created an outdoor skating rink and is pleased to invite the community for a skate. “Bring skates, shovels and a healthy wintery spirit,” they say.
Green Lanes is also holding a bike film festival on Saturday at 7:15pm at the Elora Centre for the Arts. Enjoy two-and-a-half hours of “exhilarating short films,” they say.
Jan. 25 is the final day of the festival. From 3:30 to 5pm at the Lost and Found café, enjoy Ben Doerksen in concert. Meet at 2:30pm for an introduction to forest bathing before the concert.
The festival ends at 5pm but the connections, it is hoped, will continue throughout the year.
All events are free although donations are gratefully accepted. For more information, visit greenlanes.my.canva.site and scroll down to BeSpoke Festival.
