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Gael
Arthur
finds
that Ducks,
Wine and Tulips are fêted in beautiful
British Columbia and Wonderful Washington
.
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 Festivals
in the
Pacific Northwest
Wildlife
Photo - Keith Thirkell
A 40 minute ferry ride north of Vancouver lies the Sunshine coast -
drive along the beautiful Sechelt Peninsula, past Pender
Harbour to Ruby Lake, for the one-day Ruby Lake Lagoon Wood
Duck & Wilderness Festival 2002, held this year on Sunday,
May 5th.
The Cogrossi family, patrons of the festival and owners of the
getaway Ruby Lake Resort, established a bird sanctuary beside their
property shortly after arriving from Italy nine years ago.
The Festival is now in its third year, attracting locals and tourists
alike. For the
non-birder, it may be hard to understand why the wood duck is such a
big things. However, this picture by Keith Thirkell should give you a
hint.
They are beautiful birds and the Cogrossis have created a welcoming
environment for them. Over
the past several years, building up the freshwater lagoon and offering
ready sources of food, Aldo Cogrossi has coaxed the wood ducks to
return.
From a single pair on the lagoon several years ago, he expects over 60
ducks to return this year. There
were 37 ducklings born last year, and the first of the birds returned
in late March.
 What
to do at a Wood Duck Festival? Well,
aside from seminars to learn about caring for and feeding wild birds,
there will be guided hikes, slide shows, along with 40 exhibitors –
arts, crafts and information, all in some way related to conservation.
Photo - Keith Thirkell
Ruby Lake Resort has one of the best restaurants on the Sunshine Coast,
so count on the food being great.
Full details at
http://www.rubylakeresort.com
Wine
The
24th annual Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival is one of
North America’s top consumer wine events.
From April 22nd to 28th, this fun
event offers something for everyone.
There is a wine and appetizer competition (top restaurants compete to
create a recipe to best match the Fetzer Barrel Select Cabernet
Sauvignon – lucky consumers wander around the room tasting each
combination.
Wine dinners at some of the city’s top restaurants carefully match
far too many courses with far too many wines – a challenge for even
the most experienced gourmand.
The
main attraction for the average wine drinker is the tasting room,
where you can sample 600 wines poured by 150 wineries.
This year, there is a preponderance of Portuguese and German
participants, so it’s a great way for those of us caught in Tuscany
or Bordeaux ruts to learn while we spit. Full details at http://www.winefest.mybc.com
Tulips
They may have tulips in Holland, but thankfully, they have also exported
them in large quantities to Washington.
For those of us not lucky enough to hit Floriade this year, we
can at least appreciate the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The tulip bulb business flourished in Washington State when
the US placed an embargo on bulb imports.
The embargo lasted until after the Second World War, giving
strong producers the chance to established themselves. Seems that Skagit County is a good place to grown bulbs, and
now 700 acres of land is dedicated to the industry.
Since 1984, the tulip Festival has been growing. It’s a great
opportunity to experience the explosion of colours, whether by
bicycle, on foot or driving. The
organizers are keen to keep you in the county a bit longer, so they
have organized all sorts of events to coincide with the blooms
(symphony performances, a juried arts and crafts competition, food
festivals, the works).
The official dates are April 5th to April 21st,
But it’s been a cool spring, so checkout the web site first to see
what is in bloom.
As of March 30th, the tulips were not in bloom.
Full details can found at http://www.tulipfestival.org/
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