The White Squall Paddling Film Festival is coming back to the Stockey Centre this weekend.
That is from Tim Dyer, one of the owners of White Squall, local outdoor clothing and equipment store, who says the family-friendly evening will have paddling movies from all over the world as well as a silent auction beforehand. Dyer says all proceeds from the evening will go to Global Medic.
“Global Medic is an organization based out of Toronto, but they’re essentially Canada’s conscience on the international stage. Their volunteer paramedics and firefighters drop everything at a moment’s notice and go to hotspots on the planet where things are in desperate need and they’ll respond. Things like the earthquakes in Haiti, they’ve been in Pakistan, they are [currently] in Ukraine [and] Syria,” he says.
Dyer says White Squall has been partnering with Global Medic to support them for many years. “I think we’re probably into our 6th or 7th time doing it, and it’s a jury selection of films that have been put on by an organization called Rapid Media. It’s an international selection of films that adventurers from all over the globe have submitted and we’re able to access a selection of these films and present them,” he says.
Dyer says the evening will also have some local music, gourmet popcorn, homemade desserts, tea, coffee and beer.
“The doors open at 5:30 PM and between 5:30 and 7:00 people can get a drink, eat some good popcorn and also able to have a look at the silent auction, which has almost 100 different items on display. You can look at these right now on the White Squall Facebook [page],” he says.
Final bidding takes place Saturday evening, Dyer says, and tickets cost $20 for an adult and $10 for a child. “We’ve purposely tried to make it as affordable as possible so we’re hoping that we’ll fill the stocky to the rafters,” he says.
In addition, Dyer says Delta Kayaks, a British Columbia-based kayak company, has given White Squall a kayak to give away Saturday evening. “It’s about a $1,700 boat and the way that people can get involved is to donate to Global Medic and for every $20 that they donate, we’ll put their name in a hat to see if they can win this kayak,” he says.
Dyer says it’s a fun night and it usually wraps by 9:30 PM.