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<\/a>According to festival director Dave Bain, a graduate of Camosun College who grew up in the Cowichan Valley, it\u2019s taken this long to forge a relationship between the music festival he\u2019s envisioned and the community he was raised in. It\u2019s a community that, until now, never had a cultural or music festival and really didn\u2019t know what to do with one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first year we ran into some troubles with the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD), and it went through my mind to do it somewhere else, like Victoria, but the whole idea when I started this was to support the people that supported me in my education and growing up there, so I don\u2019t think Rock of the Woods could move out of the Cowichan Valley because I really want to see it grow into the high schools and the community,\u201d explains Bain. \u201cWe could do it somewhere else, but for me personally it wouldn\u2019t have the same effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as securing licensing from the CVRD, Rock of the Woods has to get approval from the agricultural land commission. Now with a couple of years under their belts and their good reputation well known in the area, festival organizers are able to navigate the logistical hurdles a bit easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main reason why he needs us is getting the liquor license and that triggers our involvement,\u201d says CVRD bylaw enforcement official Nino Morano. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen any issues at the last two festivals and the feedback has been positive. At first we took a chance, and now it\u2019s not much of a chance anymore because it\u2019s worked out. We even had elected officials attend the event last year and they seemed to be really happy with it. Of course, there\u2019s always room for improvement, but I don\u2019t see anything that\u2019s a deep concern or safety issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Bain, dealing with bureaucracy is a year-long process, something that will start up again for next year immediately after the 2013 edition, which runs July 26\u011028 in Glenora. This year\u2019s Rock of the Woods will be located at the Godfrey Brownwell Vineyards, where the festival has signed on to a five-year lease. Previous installments have taken place in Bamberton (2011) and Glenora Farm (2012).<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s gotten a lot easier and smoother as the festival has gained recognition in the community, both the festival organizers and the Cowichan Valley went into the undertaking of hosting a music festival in the region without a lot of previous events to base their models on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been kind of learning how to do this together and that\u2019s been a struggle, and until this year it was mind-blowingly hard to do,\u201d says Bain of his annual partnership with the community, \u201cbut we\u2019ve finally proven that it\u2019s a safe and positive thing for the Cowichan Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now able to draw larger musical acts to the area, the festival seems to be hitting its stride and creating a vibe of its own that goes beyond the music, according to Bain. This year\u2019s lineup includes Seattle folk-rockers The Cave Singers, San Francisco psych-soul band Monophonics, Canadian indie-pop darling Hannah Georgas, UK-born Whistler DJ Mat the Alien, and Victoria folk\/reggae group Jon and Roy, among dozens of others.<\/p>\n