ASK Festival King another huge success

August 6, 2014 · 0 Comments

The 9th annual ASK Festival King 2014 is a wrap.
Many residents of King and surrounding area learned new facts, created new things, made new friends, and visited new places, because of the events of the past few weeks. Homes now feature original baskets, wire sculptures, abstract collages, ceramic centrepieces. Outfits are adorned with bracelets, earrings and pendants – all created at ASK workshops, run by local artists.
Highlights of the week’s tours and events included a new version of Romeo and Juliet, staged by the talented Humber River Shakespeare Company. This versatile group is used to performing outdoors and, when the rain begins to fall, picking up their props mid-scene and moving the whole show, plus audience, to a nearby community centre and carrying on indoors.
But this year’s Festival performance required no such dexterity – the audience moved effortlessly from the light-filled foyer where they had been enjoying champagne and raspberries, into the attractive theatre space at Country Day School where they were safe for the night. Not so for the stars of the show, who, (spoiler alert), fell together in an embrace as they took their last breath onstage.
Another event which created a high was a trip into space with guide Jim Middleton, retired engineer on the Canadarm and designer of parts of the Mars rover, Curiosity. Middleton amused and entertained his audience with stories of Canada-US friendly competition for media coverage and credit. He showed pictures of his creations and made his listeners proud of the contributions this “little country to the north” has made to the international space race.
In an effort to keep us all active during the lazy days of summer, two of the ASK events featured hikes – one to Cold Creek and another on an ORTA trail in Happy Valley. Participants sweated their way up and down hills and across creeks and bogs, fighting mosquitoes and slogging in the mud. All along the way there were comments: “I love being outside after the long winter! Isn’t it beautiful In the forest?”
One of the last events of the Festival was a workshop on travel writing – how to turn adventures and experiences into travelogues or journals to be enjoyed during the next long winter, and shared with grandchildren and friends. This seemed a fitting end to the ASK signature summer event – one of the ways to save the many memories that will fill our days until the next ASK Festival comes around.

Photos by Robert Brown Photography