The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Revelstoke TIMES magazine: Enter the LUNAverse. Pick up a copy at the Revelstoke Review office and local businesses.
It’s been said that LUNA redefined a city known for outdoor adventure into a cultural destination. A celebration of art and energy, of unique and imaginative creators and visionaries, of the thoughtful and fantastical, of magic and natural beauty; LUNA has come a long way since it was established as a festival nearly seven years ago.
“We’re bringing a new festival to downtown that will merge art with energy, innovation and imagination for an unforgettable experience for our city,” said Miriam Manley, theatre manager and board member of the Revelstoke Arts Council at the time of LUNA’s inception, in an interview with the Revelstoke Review in 2017.
In its first year, LUNA featured 25 installations in shop windows, empty spaces, alleyways and a host of other unexpected places, transforming the ‘familiar’ into ‘fantastic’.
“Revelstoke has changed. It’s always been a great place but there’s a new, dynamic energy to the city with people arriving here from all over the world with young, exciting ideas,” said Jana Thompson, one of the event’s organizers when it first began, in an interview with the Review in 2017.
Since then, the festival has grown immensely, displayed by the nearly 40 installations and full music lineup scheduled for this year’s festivities.
READ MORE: Looking ahead to Revelstoke’s LUNA Fest
The LUNA experience is felt through all your senses as you wander through your favourite downtown destinations. Some exhibits are built into the infrastructure, some are projected on to previously-barren walls, some are best experienced with your eyes closed as you listen intently for it’s artist to convey the message into your ears.
LUNA experienced great feedback in it’s first year, followed by another two festivals which really gained momentum, but it was all halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the festival’s creators had to get creative(er).
In Sept. 2020, LUNA RE-IMAGINED brought an in-person and a virtual experience to Revelstokians at a time when they needed it most - after half a year of pandemic restrictions.
Last year, the RE-IMAGINED moniker was dropped and the festival returned in earnest, but the lessons learned from the ingenuity used to make the festival happen when it was most difficult helped propel it into the stratosphere.
READ MORE: Return of the Revelstoke Garlic Fest