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CAMPBELL RIVER SALMON FESTIVAL 44 YEARS
Somewhere around the late fifties and early sixties, for one reason or
another, Campbell River's major celebrations, May Day, Canada Day and Labour
Day, disappeared. Gone were the parades, fireworks, logging sports, ball games,
kids sports and a multitude of other events.
Over the next few years some smaller events, organized by individual groups,
occurred during the spring and summer, but there was still no major celebration.
In 1967 the Campbell River Canoe Club, reminiscing about the good old days,
decided that Campbell River needed a festival. Being the Canoe Club and that
canoeing events would be major part of the activities, the name Water Festival
was appropriate. The July 1st date was selected since it was traditionally
sunny.
1968
First annual Water Festival held at McIvor lake |
1970
Festival moves to downtown Campbell River and name Campbell
River Salmon Festival was adopted |
1972
The Festival obtained a L.I.P. grant and with
community donations and volunteers constructed the Totem Pavilion
on the Foreshore park |
| Festival obtains a 2nd L.I.P.
grant and commissions local native groups to produce authentic native
artifacts which were given to the local museum.
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The Cod Jiggers Stomp was
the first cabaret held in the new Arena and the tickets were $3.00
each.
Festival budget topped $22,000.00
Chamber of Commerce introduced the World Champion Oyster Eating
Contest. |
1974
A major sanctioned bicycle race
through downtown was added to the program, but after six years it was
discontinued as smaller communities could not attract professional
riders.
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1975
The Festival considered moving to
Nunns Creek Park because of the larger grounds, but strong objections
by the Downtown Merchants and public convinced the Festival to remain
on the Foreshore park. Campbell River is the
Logging Centre for Northern Vancouver Island and Coastal Inlets and
until the late 50's had an annual Logging Sports on Labour Day.
As logging is the community's heritage, Salmon Festival introduced a
Loggers Sports demonstration as part of the
celebration.. |
1976
Festival constructs 20 foot spring
salmon parade float and tours B.C. and Washington State |
1978
Oyster
Eating Contest contestants vied for a place in the Guinness Book of
Records.
74
year old 115 lb. Hilda Dennis consumed 1724 grams of raw oysters in one
hour to win the contest and a place in the Guinness Book of Records |
1979
Hilda
Dennis retains her world champion oyster eating title by downing 1798
grams of the slippery morsels.
Cod
Jiggers Stomp is so popular that tickets are limited to 6 per person to
try and stop the severe scalping
Mining
Sports demonstration added to Festival's events
Rainy
days start to plague the July 1st weekend, Maybe the Water Festival was
a more appropriate name.
Festival
donates to C.R. Figure Skating for sound equipment at Strathcona Gardens
Arena
Festival
donates to Lions Club to furnish a room at Yucalta Lodge Seniors
Complex.
Salmon
Festival introduces the Miss Salmon Festival Pageant which is won by
Yvonne Pellitier.
Rotary
exchange student off to New Zealand for a year and festival donates
several dozen T-Shirts to give to her new friends down under. |
1980
Although
popular, the Oyster Eating Contest is dropped due to bad press. Rule
was, if you upchucked, you were eliminated and that was the fate of many
contestants. This was felt to be disgusting to some and the bad
publicity prompted the sponsor to drop the event.
Vancouver
Police Motorcycle Drill Team show their stuff for festival crowd.
Festival
budget tops $100,000.00. |
1982
Festival receives sanction by the
Miss Canada Pageant for its Miss Campbell River Pageant. Winner Holly Patten goes to Toronto to compete for the
1993 Miss Canada title.
Rain continues
to plague Festival
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1984
Loggers Sports moves to second weekend in August to
receive certification by CANLOG (Canadian Logging Sports Association)
and the 1st Annual sanctioned Logging Sports was held at Nunns Creek
park.
The Lunch Bunch Boogie Down the Campbell River (the
Raft Race) was also moved to this weekend.
Mascot Coho the bear was introduced |
1986
The Festival and Chamber of Commerce host a Shop to
Shore Sailabration as part of "Island Odyssey" (a 52 vessel
circumnavigation of Vancouver Island).
The Mining Sports was expanded from 2 to 9 events
and became a competition rather than a demonstration.
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1987
Rainy days now outnumber the sunny days on July 1st
and the cost of running the Festival exceeds $300,000.00
Canadian singer K.D. Lang performs at the June 12th
cabaret at Strathcona Gardens Arena.
Festival works with city to provide celebrations for
the opening of the new fishing pier on July 4th. |
1988
Royal
Lipizzan Stallions dazzles sell out crowd at Strathcona Gardens.
Foreshore park and downtown
Campbell River are jammed with people to watch the Canadian Snowbirds
Air Show. |
1989
Another wet July 1st weekend. 66 mm. of rain
(15 mm. more than the combined average for June and July) fell during
the 4 day celebration.
Municipality notifies the Festival that they would
not be allowed on the Foreshore Park next year as
the rainy weather and large crowds were causing sever damage to the
grounds |
1990
Festival begins 3 year plan to revamp celebrations
and the July celebration is moved to Elm Park, the Raft Race is moved
to late July and the Loggers Sports in August is expanded to 2 days.
Festival receives Charity status from the
Federal Tax
Department allowing tax receipts to be given for donations.
Canadian Snowbirds return for second air show
marking their 20th anniversary. |
1991
Oakridge Boys play for concert in Nunns Creek Park
during the Logers Sports event in August.
As part of the economic savings for the Municipality
in tough financial times, Festival presents a 5 year budget plan to
Council, outlining a $15,000 Grant-In-Aid reduction over a three year
period. |
1992 - 25th ANNIVERSARY
Restructuring program is now
complete.
July 1st is a 1 day
celebration. The Raft Race is expanded to accommodate more
events and the major Celebration "Salmonfest" is the second
weekend in August at Nunns Creek park.
Waylin Jennings headlines the concert
at Salmonfest. |
1993
Festival signs a “License
of Occupation” with the Municipality for Nunns Creek Park and
enters into a partnership with C.R. Minor Baseball, C.R. Men’s
Baseball, C.R. Dog Fanciers & C.R. Skateboard Society to improve
the Park.
R.C.M.P.,
C.R. Trail Riders and Salmon Festival combine efforts to present the
R.C.M.P. Musical Rides at the Trail Riders grounds.
Event is taped and televised by Much Music.
With
the reduction of our Grant-In-Aid Festival introduces a $2.00 adult
entry fee for the Salmonfest to cover Children’s Events.
With
the help of Ironwood Mall, Social Services program workers and
Festival volunteers a trail, complete with bridge, from Ironwood Mall
to Nunns Creek Park is opened.
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1994
A
Festival office is established at Nunns Creek Park to allow onsite
administration of festivities and the Park development program.
Evening
concert at Salmonfest featured the Legends of Rock & Roll:
Bobby Curtola, Buddy Knox, Coasters & Platters.
Final
year for Raft Race as insurance cost for the event were becoming
prohibitive.
The
Nunns Creek Park major baseball field rebuild, a joint project by the
City, Minor and Senior Baseball, Community Businesses, Festival and
many many volunteers was completed and officially opened.
Work
begins on Skateboard Park. Combined
project between Municipality, Skateboarders and Festival.
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1995
Skateboard
Park officially opened.
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1996
Lights
for the Major Ball Field completed in time
for the Minor Baseball’s Northwest Regional Tournament with teams
from British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana
and Idaho. The winner,
Oregon, went on to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series.
Parade
is held for the first time on a Saturday and was a joint project
between the Shrine Club, Rotary Club and Festival.
Salmon
Festival joins other community groups to put on the 3rd
annual Family New Years Eve Celebrations at Strathcona Gardens,
TideMark Theater and Community Hall.
The Festivals’ portion of the celebration was held in the
newly expanded Strathcona Gardens Arena/Pool complex and over 300
people braved the inclement weather conditions to make it was a
resounding success.
Laurie
Thaine Headlines the concert at SalmonFest. |
1997 - 30th ANNIVERSARY
City
of Campbell River celebrates 50th Anniversary.
The Municipality and many community groups, including Salmon
Festival worked together to put on “Jubilee Celebrations”
throughout the year.
Campbell
River Children’s Festival, Municipality and Salmon Festival worked
together to provide an exciting July 1st Canada Day
which wound up with a spectacular fireworks display.
Festival
assists the Willow Point Foursquare Church with their first annual
Christian Youth Conference in Nunns Creek Park.
Salmonfest
enjoys a heat wave (no rain), which was a good fit for the evening
concerts featuring the sounds of the Caribbean band “Tropical
Heat”.
700
people turn out for the Family New Years Eve Celebration at Strathcona
Gardens and Community Hall to wind up the City’s Jubilee year. |
1998
Many complements
from the public as Festival maintains the same quality fireworks
display as the Jubilee Year
Salmonfest in
August is again blessed with 3 days of good weather.
Salmonfest
introduces “Stage of Stars” 3 full days of stage
entertainment, replacing the evening only concert and expands the
Loggers Sports and Children’s activities.
Suzanne Gitzi and Gary Fjellgaard headline the Stage of Stars.
New
Years Eve Family Celebration was a success with 800 in attendance.
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1999
“Farmers
Daughter” is the headliner for the Stage Of Stars.
Loggers
Sports, Children’s Events and Senior’s Events programs saw further
improvements and a Trade Show for local businesses was added to our
schedule of events.
Millennium
Family New Years Eve Celebration presented by the Campbell River and
Cape Mudge Native Bands, Teen Centre and Salmon Festival was a huge
success. Attendance was over 900. |
2000 - MILLENNIUM CELEBRATION
July
1st Celebrations by the Children’s Festival and Salmon
Festival wind up to another spectacular fireworks display.
Paul
Brandt, Canadian Country Artist, headlines the “Stage Of Stars” at
Salmonfest in August.
Loggers
Sports underwent a major expansion by offering 3 Canadian Championship
events and $15,000.00 in prize money.
Despite the poor economic conditions in Campbell River, the
logging community supported the expansion and provided 100%
sponsorship of the events prize money.
The Logging Sports was also filmed and shown on Outdoor Life
Network (OLN), a national cable television network, and was viewed
throughout Canada and United States.
The
Municipality, Wonders Of The Wild and Salmon Festival present a
Millennium Event at Salmonfest called “Homecoming 2000 – Return
of the Salmon”.
In
1896 Sir Richard S. Musgrave, on a vacation from England, embarked on
a fishing excursion with a First Nations guide and caught a
seventy-pound salmon.
His prize salmon, along with many a great tales, was preserved
and taken back to his home in England.
Although the fish was destroyed in a fire several years later,
it’s legacy lives on as the Campbell River Tyee Club was founded as
a result of that catch.
The
B.C. Wildlife Studios in Campbell River made a reproduction of this
great fish, which was
unveiled at the “Homecoming 2000” event. Included in this
event was the recreation of the 1896 First Nations village and Sir
Richard Musgrave’s camp, plus carving, dancing and art displays by
the First Nations.
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2001
This year we expanded our Loggers Sports to include 38
events, 4 of which were Canadian Championships and raised our prize
package to $20,000. This made Campbell River Loggers Sports the largest
on the Island and one of the top five in British Columbia. The
film produced for OLN was picked up by TSN and shown North American
Wide.
Our entertainment headliners were Patricia Conroy and
Rick Tippie and they put on a tremendous show on Saturday night and
through out the three days of Festival local musicians entertained the
crowds.
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2002
Loggers sports continues to be the popular event of the
Festival and in 2002 became the 2nd largest in British Columbia.
This years program was basically the same as last year with 4 Canadian championships,
34 other events and just over $20,000. in prize money. The two, half
hour films produced of our Loggers Sports in 2000 continue to be shown
on OLN and TSN.
For the outdoor stage we featured only local talent and
no additional cover charge was required. On Saturday and Sunday
afternoon local teen bands were featured on the stage. Although
some of the adults were not overly enthusiastic with their style of
music, the teens did have fun. |
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2003
Loggers
Sports continues to be the main focus with 4 Canadian Championships and
35 other events. Contestants in the Open events came from European
Countries, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada making this
a truly International event. This year we increased the prize
package to $22,000.00 to provide better prizes for the youth and teen
events.
Once
again we featured free local and island talent on the outdoor stage and
all children's rides and games were also free. This years Crafts,
Trade and Community Corner areas were the best ever with over 40
vendors. 2003 also saw the return of the antique vehicle display which
drew a large crowd. |
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2004
The Celebration known as SalmonFest/Logger Sports on the
2nd weekend in August took on the name "North Island Logger
Sports". This name change was brought about because Logging Sports is
the main event, it is the only CANLOG Sanctioned event on the North Island
and sponsors come from the North Island area. The logger Sports continued
to be the 2nd largest in British Columbia and attracted competitors from
all over the world. Local and international competitors competed for
part of the now $25,000.00 prize package
Logger Sports took on a new aspect by becoming part of the
world circuit with the presentation of our 1st World Championship and
Island Television Stations CH and the New VI filmed and showed highlights
over the Festival Days. |
2005
North Island Logger Sports with the
assistance of many businesses, community groups and volunteers by presenting
2 World , 7 Canadian Championships and 31 other events with a prize package
of $31,000 became the largest logging sports event in Canada
This event was filmed by the Island Television Stations The New VI, CH and CRTV plus CTV from Vancouver.
It was also noted by CANLOG as
the best family orientated Logging Sports by providing, Youth (9-11), Teen
(12-15), Novice, Ladies, Intermediate and Open (pro) competition categories.
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2006
Campbell River Salmon Festival with the
assistance of North Island Communities and Businesses presented it's Annual
North Island Logger Sports and hosted the most prestigious logging sports
event in Canada. The Canadian East West Logging Sports Challenge where
loggers from Ontario, Quebec & Maritimes pitted their skill against those
from Alberta and British Columbia. The score was West 82 East
56. These events were filmed and aired by local, Island & Provincial
Television Networks along with TSN & OLN.
The major change for 2006 was the Parade
moving from August to July 1st to be part of the Canada Day Celebration as
it was years ago. |
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2007
This year the Salmon Festival cosponsored the Canada
Day Celebrations by assisting with the Huck Finn and Small Fry Derby,
Yuculta Lodge & Hospital Canada Day Celebrations, Parade and Skateboard
Competition, assisted 28 community groups with assets and manpower for their
events and presented Canada's largest Logging Sports for the 3rd consecutive
year.
This years North Island Logger Sports offered
43 events and $37,900.00 in cash prizes to local and international
competitors plus hosted the STIHL Western Canadian Semi-Finals.
Winners of the STIHL events advance to London Ont. for the Canadian Finals
and the winner there will proceed to Germany for the World Finals
For the second year in a row the event was filmed by
local, provincial and national television. TSN will aired the show
on it's STIHL Lumberjack Series. |
2008
Another successful year as Salmon Festival presented the
North Island Logger Sports and our new event the Summer Salmon Sizzler on August
8, 9 & 10 at Nunns Creek Park. Along with these 2 events, Salmon Festival
hosted an exciting Canadian East West Logging Sports Challenge between Ontario,
Quebec and Maritime loggers and those from Alberta and B.C. The West
claimed the victory by winning the final event of the day. We also
cosponsored the Canada Day Celebration and assisted 30 other community groups
through the free use of our assets or volunteer labour.
For the fourth year in a row our "North Island Logger Sports"
maintained its status as the largest in Canada and one of the best family
orientated shows. Local and international loggers pit their skills against
one another in 40 events for part of the $40,000.00 prize package
In returning to our roots, Salmon Festival presented a new
event, the "Summer Salmon Sizzle" which was a tremendous success. It will
definitely be part of next years Festival. Here, restaurants presented
their favorite oyster recipes at the Friday night reception and amateurs and
pros showed their skills at the Saturday & Sunday salmon baking and barbequing
competitions. The local Rotary Club also served up tantalizing dishes of
barbequed salmon throughout the weekend.
2009
The 2nd annual "SUMMER
SALMON SIZZLER", which took us back to our roots, was again a hit with the
competitors, spectators and those who had a delicious barbequed salmon meal.
Along with this were booths depicting the sea food industry and entertainment.
After 3 years of hosting
special Logging Sports Competitions (Canadian East West Competition and STIHL
Western Canadian Semi Finals) we returned to our regular "North Island Logging
Sports" venue. This venue was developed by the Salmon Festival Directors
and local competitors to provide more events for local loggers and their
families. The Friday evening venue featured our "Best In The Bush"
competition, which is for north island competitors only, plus the Youth (8-11)
and Teen (12-15) competitions. Saturday was the Novice and Intermediate
categories and Sunday featured the Ladies and Professionals. This show
maintained the Largest in Canada status for the 5th year in a row.
The popular area for the
children & teens was the Kid's Area. The Salmon Festival paid the operator
through gate receipts, donations and grants to provided the bouncers, train
ride, climbing wall, mechanical bull, face painting and portrait sketches
FREE to anyone under 19. Besides being a hit with the kids the
parents were very happy too as they were not toonied to death, as they put it. .
Most important to Salmon Festival was, regardless to the family's financial
situation every kid or teen had unlimited fun all day long.
2010
Our Logging
Sports continues to be the largest in Canada and we are noted by the North
American Axemen Association as the 5th largest in North America. Once
again the competitors and spectators enjoyed our heritage sport.
The 3rd annual
Simmer Salmon Sizzler continues to grow and our Friday evening oyster
competition and tasting was so popular that we ran out of product before the
evening ended.
One of the
major draw backs of the Logging Sports grounds is the lack of bleachers for
the spectators. This year the City replaced a number of bleachers in
other parks and donated the used sets for the Logger Sports. With the
assistance of the local building material suppliers these units are being
refurbished and a number will be ready for the 2011 show
Besides
running our own event the Salmon Festival assisted 37 other groups with
their event by supplying free use of our assets and assistance to set them
up. By supplying the assets free it is estimated that these groups
saved around $25,000.00 which helped their charitable endeavor.
2011
Salmon Festival again took the Canada Day Celebration to those in the 4
senior's lodges that were unable to attend the downtown festivities.
With the help of the MP, MLA, Mayor, Police & Fire Departments, CFB Comox
and Quality Foods for the cakes the seniors enjoyed tea, cake and festivities
with the dignitaries. With the help of the Rotary we presented the
Annual Canada Day Parade and assisted other groups with their portion of the
Celebration
At
our 44th Annual SalmonFest, August 5-7 at Nunns Creek Park) Logger
Sports wowed the crowd by the performance of the local and international
competitors. This year a number of competitors came from United States,
New Zealand and Australia demonstrated their skills as the placed in the top 5
in a number of events.
2011 was also a banner year for National and International Television
Coverage. On Saturday NBC Adventure Sports covered a portion of our show
and on Sunday we were filmed by Canadian Sports Production for TSN.
Along with the Logger Sports we presented out 4th annual Summer Salmon Sizzler
(Salmon Cooking Competition) and provided free Children's activities
and rides for those 18 and under.
We
also gave assistance to 35 other Community Groups by providing free use of our
assets and saving them just over $28,000.00
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