\u201cIt started off as, like, \u2018I\u2019m going to have a house show in my backyard.\u2019 Then I started talking to people who are interested in it and it kind of became bigger… It rained all day [the first year], but like 80 people showed up,\u201d says Nicholson. \u201cIt was pretty awesome. The cops got called, like, four different times for noise complaints. But a lot of neighbours came in and liked it. So it was a 50\/50 thing where we had half the neighbourhood absolutely hating our guts and the other half being like, \u2018This is so cool! Do something like this again!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n It was the first event Nicholson had organized, but the enthusiasm shared by musicians and attendees alike made it easy to keep the ball rolling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was talking to a friend about putting on something else like a year after that, and he mentioned that there was a guy on [Pender Island] that had this really cool farm [Ohana Farms] and he always put shows on there, so I should reach out to him\u2026 I started chatting with him,\u201d says Nicholson. \u201cHe was super into it, and that\u2019s how it\u2019s become an actual festival on legs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And those legs are pretty sturdy. Last year the attendance more than doubled in size to 200, and this year it\u2019s expected to nearly double again, with the festival expecting approximately 350 people. Nicholson doesn\u2019t play any instruments, but the passion for music and the community that comes with it started early. For her, it\u2019s all about the way it brings people together.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been involved in and immersed in the music scene since I was a kid,\u201d she says. \u201cI grew up with a dad who played music\u2026 As a teenager, all my friends were musicians, which is still true. Like today, all my friends are still musicians, for the most part, and it\u2019s just a big part of my life. It was something that started on a whim, just to be more involved in the community that I am a part of and then became something that I found out that I was pretty decent at and enjoyed doing.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to balancing school with organizing a full-scale two-day music festival, Nicholson found there were a lot of challenges\u2014but some surprise benefits. too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was involved in winter classes, and I definitely found that I started some of the processes that I usually start a little bit earlier a bit later this year, because of being a student\u2026 [But] going to Camosun was another way to find more community, especially in the art scene. Like, in some of the classes that I took last semester, I met a lot of artists who are going to be vendors this year.\u201d<\/p>\n For anyone interested in pursuing their own big artistic projects, Nicholson has some powerful advice: get involved with those who share your passions.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything that you can do to be a part of your artistic community and get yourself immersed is good,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like that\u2019s just kind of how you meet people who might give you opportunities and you meet other artists that you can get to work with, potentially. Just kind of stick your face in there.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/0D2752E0-D50B-43A0-8FF0-ACA01466A72A.jpg\")
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