This weekend’s Spirit of the Sea Festival offers a little of everything – in the way of music and other entertainment – with a strong local bias in the lineup assembled for the Main Stage (West Beach), the East Beach Stage and the Spirit Stage (Semiahmoo Park bandshell, courtesy of the Semiahmoo First Nation) and a variety of after-hours venues.
Entertainment kicks off with two evening gigs Friday at 8 p.m. – The Myles Bigalow Trio featuring guitarist Jim Black (Deluxe Restaurant) and The Malarkeys (Slainte By The Pier).
Saturday (July 30), children’s entertainment runs at the Spirit Stage until 4 p.m., including storyteller/singer Max Tell (11:30 a.m.), White Rock Library Story Time with Genevieve Sveinson (12:15 p.m.), The Korki and Sugar Sweet and Sassy Comedy Magic Show (12:45 p.m.) Port Metro Vancouver (1:30 p.m.), Fanny Starchild (2 p.m.), White Rock Library storytelling (2:40 p.m.), the Seung-Ri Black Belt Academy (3 p.m.) and Chanel Stasiuk (3:30 p.m.).
Following these, the Spirit Stage will feature musical acts Anthropology of Love (4 p.m.), Good Bye Bones (5 p.m.), Dahlia to Dogwood (6 p.m.) and Chris Coldwater (7 p.m.).
Saturday’s Main Stage sets will feature emerging talents Debra Jean and the Means (noon), The Phil Dickson Band (1:15 p.m.), Behind Sapphire (2:30 p.m.), The Oh Wells (4:30 p.m.), Their There (5:30 p.m.) and the Star Captains (6:30 p.m.).
The East Beach Stage features an equally strong lineup for Saturday: Alexandra Hanna (noon), Chanel Stasiuk (1 p.m.), Laine Henderson (2 p.m.), Danica Danielson (3 p.m.), The Wheat In The Barley (4 p.m.), Doug Towle (5 p.m.), Heidi McCurdy’s Urban Tribe (6 p.m.) and Mojo Zydeco (7 p.m.).
Saturday’s after-hour gigs feature the Star Captains (9 p.m., Washington Avenue Grill) and Lorne Warr (8 p.m., Slainte By The Pier).
Sunday (July 31), children’s entertainment continues at the Spirit Stage until 4 p.m., including Korki and Sugar Sweet and Sassy’s Comedy Magic Show (noon), Fanny Starchild (12:45 p.m.), Teddy Bear Picnic wind-up with Friends of Cupcake (1:15 p.m.), Port Metro Vancouver (1:45 p.m.); the music of Max Tell (2:15 p.m.) and Heidi McCurdy’s Multi Cultural Choir (3 p.m.).
Musical acts continue at the Spirit Stage with Ben Dunnill (4 p.m.), Dennis Pook (5 p.m.), Tristan Paxton and Molly Griffin (6 p.m.) and James Meger and Sam King’s Electric Jazz Odyssey (7 p.m.).
On the East Beach Stage, Sunday’s lineup includes Sean Cronin (noon), Fanatics In The Attic (1 p.m.), The Wheat In The Barley (2 p.m.), Tommy Alto (3 p.m.), The Sumner Brothers (4 p.m.), Token Rhyme (5 p.m.), Soul Dust (6 p.m.) and Neil Harnett (7 p.m.).
Main Stage entertainment for Sunday is an all-day, all-blues extravaganza with Sean ‘Blues Puppy’ Riquelme (10 a.m.), the Jesse Burch Band (11 a.m.) and David ‘Boxcar’ Gates (noon). Following a fashion show at 1 p.m., the blues will continue with Arsen Shomakhov (1:30 p.m.), Pappa Dawg (2:30 p.m.), Glen Pearson (3:30 p.m.), Velvet Bulldozer (4:30 p.m.), Jason Buie (5:30 p.m.) and Jimmy D. Lane (6:30 p.m.).
If that’s not quite enough blues, there will be an after-hours All Star Blues Jam at 9 p.m. at West Beach Grill.
Music continues Monday (Aug. 1) at the Spirit Stage, with Graeme Emmott (11:45 a.m.), Gerald Charlie and Black Owl Blues (12:45 p.m.), Wild Alive (1:45 p.m.), Rhythm Street (2:30 p.m.), No Left Turn (3:30 p.m.), Joe Given (4:15 p.m.) Ben Brown and Jessica Leger (5 p.m.), Fang (6 p.m.) and Suzy (7 p.m.).