A local organization has found a unique way to host a COVID-safe, socially distanced fundraiser.
On Thursday, Sept. 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., a “Throw a Boat Down” event will see a paddle-powered, floating concert off the Centennial Park boat launch/Ganges Alley area.
The audience is invited to arrive by paddle board, kayak, canoe or rowboat to tune in to the songs of Vancouver’s Luke Wallace. With a full paddle’s distance between watercraft, it’s a COVID-safe but splashy way to celebrate the start of the Labour Day long weekend.
Wallace launched his new album, What on Earth, in early March and was set to tour behind the suite of songs at community halls and theatres up and down the B.C. coast. But COVID-19 put the brakes on those plans, and he was forced to shelve the 1,000 freshly pressed CDs and wait out the pandemic.
Now, inspired by a summer of paddling around the Gulf Islands, Wallace is ready to call fans to a socially distanced ‘flotilla’ show. The live performance will begin at 6:30 p.m., which is high tide, and will also be broadcast via Zoom, with donations collected supporting RAVEN, an organization dedicated to raising legal defence funds for Indigenous Nations who are defending environmental rights in court.