25 Aug

Festacular: Two Acre Shaker

A few years ago (when I lived in Vancouver) a friend brought me to a festival in Squamish called Basscoast. This was the first year they had it and I fell in love. It was close to home so I could only go for one night (if I wanted) and it was a solid crowd of people. Basscoast outgrew its location and made their move to Merritt. This was disappointing because I’m a huge fan of festivals near by and I love a small-ish crowd. I have heard a lot about the Two Acre Shaker and now that I’m officially a Pemberton local, it was time to finally check it out (and I’m glad I did!).

Campgrounds opened at high noon and my friend and I claimed our temporary home around 3:00 pm. We got settled, cracked some Twisted Teas (yum) and hung out until our friends arrived. You didn’t have to camp and there were shuttles to and from Pemberton. Or, you could have dropped into the festival by parachute like 2 guys did (talk about a grand entrance)! So, if you are not campy and have somewhere to stay, you can still come and if you don’t have a car, you can just drop from the sky.

Camping

There is something magical about camping at the Lillooet Lake Rodeo Grounds, where the Shaker was. You are 13 km outside of Pemberton, surrounded by mountains and fields and you feel like you are all alone with some of the most fun people in the region. Originally, the Shaker was held on 2 acres of land, but they grew and this was the next best place. You can read more about it’s history on the website.

Around 1000 festering festers united to move to music of artists from around the world. Alternating beside two stages (side by side) there were DJs and live acts surrounded by a circular fence, we were free to dance and enjoy adult refreshments in an enclosed 19+ area. There were also food trucks, a few shops and many sexy outhouses.

The stages

The rain held off (mostly) and when day turned to night the bright moon graced us with its presence. The people began to dance harder and faster. The costumes came out and everyone had become friends. It was one big party.

The decor

One of the best parts of festing is that you meet up with other festival lovers who you may only see at festivals. I was lucky enough to be with a few good friends and met up with some hardcore music lovers to enjoy the awesome line up. The music was packed into the schedule from noon until 5:00 am. Some of the most anticipated shows were Lyrics Born from Cali (Hip Hop), Fort Knox Five from DC and Kytami from Victoria. Kytami was who I was looking forward to the most, mostly because she combines classical music with dub step and plays the violin live! She nailed it.

Lyrics Born

One long lost festing friend who I met up with was Sascha Yamashita, DJ, Promoter and all round music enthusiast. This is what he had to say (trust me, he knows his music):

“Kytami’s performance at the Two Acre Shaker in Pemberton was a whirlwind of neoclassical violin over crazy rich baselines that had the dance floor shaking from her first track to her last. All who saw her perform at the Mt. Curry Rodeo under darkening skies felt her stage presence and passion.

Following Kytami’s eclectic performance, Jon Horvath of Fort Knox Five took to the ones twos on the adjacent stage. Unfortunately, he wasn’t accompanied by any of his band members for his debut appearance at the Two Acre Shaker. However, this didn’t matter as his performance was nothing short of incredible! Each track was filled with funk and seamlessly mixed together to create an experience that had every booty shaking for his entire set.

However, if you were too polite not to barge your way through the dense crowd and park your gyrating hips in front of the speakers, the sound quality was far from optimal, making the lack of a mid and high range a major distraction from all who played that night.

The sound needed some work but there was too much fun to be had for most to notice.”

Kytami

If you were an artist or VIP (which Jodie G, my festing partner in crime, and I were lucky enough to be) we got to go backstage. We hung out with the artists and there was a smorgasbord of food and drinks. There were also couches, which were heaven after hours of dancing. Thank you Pat and Co. for providing us with that experience.

Inside the VIP teepee

So, after dancing my face off, the clouds began to creep into the camping field and surrounded us, leaving an eerie feeling until the sun rose from behind the mountains. Some people slept, some stayed up and everyone had a great time. It’s the perfect combination of dancing and camping. If you can handle music all night long, fun people in wild costumes and being a little sweaty, awesome beats and camping-dirty then this is the fest for you! Trust me, it’s well worth the $50.