ntertainment EDITOR ANNE WATSON THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011 7 Lost Souls festival offers a ghoulishly amusing time Parade of Lost Souls Festival has plenty of workshops to give anyone’s creative side a challenge leading up to Halloween By ALANNA HARDINGE-ROONEY keletons, phantoms and ghouls will wander the streets of Van- couver’s Commercial Drive area Oct. 29 to remember the dead and dance with the living at the latest incarnation of the Parade of Lost Souls. The tag line for this year’s event, “What’s the skeleton in your closet?” conjures unsolved mysteries and shad- owy pasts. “This year’s Parade of Lost Souls Festival will explore our secrets. As we travel back in time, we discover things never revealed by our ancestors. Who in your family tree had something to hide?” asks Public Dreams’ website. After swelling to a massive 30,000-person event requiring road clo- sures and policing in 2008, organizers debuted a scaled-down version of the event, called the Secret Soul Walk, last year. “Tt used to be this big festival that consumed all of Commercial Drive,” said Julie Leung, Langara theatre stu- dent, noting that last year’s event was a mere shadow of its former self due to funding issues and construction. “It became a really loud, raucous af- fair,” said Ari Lazer, the event’s artistic producer. “It just became a challenge ... to maintain it in an orderly way, in a way that we felt happy with.” This year, 8,000 to 10,000 people are expected to stroll the meandering back-alleys route, which will remain a secret until the day of the event. Revelers will take in shadow shows, choreography routines and art installa- tions, all developed in close collabora- tion with artists and residents of the East Vancouver neighbourhood. A community remembrance shrine will be built in Grandview Park, where festival goers can pay tribute to loved ones lost. “Every year it’s been this really pow- erful place where all those voices of re- membrance for us as a community get to come together on this night when the veils between worlds are lifted,” said Lazer. For those looking for a rowdier time, ¢ a j. SIMON BEAUMONT photos Participants at last year’s Lost Soul Walk in their costumes. (Top) A woman in costume at last year’s Lost Soul Walk. (Right) a a dance party will follow the walk fea- turing DJs Timothy Wisdom, Rico Uno, Cherchez La Femme and MY!GAY!HUSBAND! Whether you’re looking for a somber transformative experience or a wild and raucous one, the festival promises to uphold its reputation as one of Van- couver’s definitive cultural affairs. “When we attract 15,000 people out to an event, it’s clearly very popular,” said Lazer. “They want a space where they can participate, where they can create an artistic experience for them- selves.” Public Dreams is holding seven by- donation workshops Oct. 18 to 23 at Bri- tannia Community Centre, where par- ticipants can craft their costumes and hone their dance skills. The Parade of Lost Souls takes place Oct. 29 at 5 p.m., location has yet to be announced. FESTIVAL workshops and events LET'S PARTY LIKE ITS 1889 TOPSY TURVY DANCE PARTY FUNDRAISER OCT. 20 AND 25 OCT 23 OCT 29 17 p.m., Britannia Community Centre 2 p.m., Britannia Community Centre 9 p.m., Maritime Labour Centre LET'S GET CRAFTY SECRET SOULS WALK OCT. 22 AND 23 OCT 29 For more information, visit 12 p.m., Britannia Community Centre 5 p.m., Location TBA publicdreams. org Postcard contest a writer's dream Langara College’s English department is challenging writers in newest contest By MORNA CASSIDY blers alike sharpen pencils and open jotters, the Langara College English department is excited to an- nounce its first ever postcard-writing contest. The department is asking students to tap into their succinct storytelling abilities and create a 250-word tale complete with a complimentary image that can be printed on a postcard. The contest runs from Oct. 20to Dec. 20. Any student currently enrolled in courses at Langara is eligible to enter. Participants must submit a postcard- sized original photo or illustration or any image from the public domain, as well as a fiction or non-fiction story. Caroline Harvey, Langara creative writing instructor, hopes the contest will inspire new writers to explore the craft and encourage those who have al- ways been curious about writing to be- gin to engage in it and inspire a life long commitment to writing. “There’s a lot of creative energy at Langara and we need more opportuni- ties for students to show what they can do,” said Harvey. “Writers need to be developed, they need to be nurtured, they need to be acknowledged and supported in their writing process,” she said. “A contest like this provides these things and opens up a different side of students.” “It has to be quick, and clean and sharp,” said Harvey. The challenge with this competition is the length restrictions. “Two-hundred and fifty words is not a lot of text real estate to create an imaginative story,” said Thomas Ar- den, general arts student. “I'll be curi- ous to see what some people come up with.” One winner will be selected from all the entries and their work will be pub- lished in The Voice, W49 and W49 on- line edition in January 2012 Contest organizers hope to motivate students to step away from the digital distraction in their lives and create in a different way. “T know we have Twitter and Face- book as regular outlets, but this isn’t social media, this is short story writ- ing, its a very different type of creativ- ity” said Harvey. Ae: writers and hobby scrib- ALEXANDRA GRANT photo Langara artist-in-residence Samuel Roy-Bois stands before the foundation of his public art installation. Langara College has selected artist Samuel Roy-Bois as its latest artist-in-residence By ALEXANDRA GRANT Roy-Bois is creating a public art in- stallation on campus with the hopes of eliciting both thought and par- ticipation from the student body. Roy-Bois described the installation as “a vertically integrated movie ad- venture” consisting of four internal pil- lars, which will house a movie studio. I angara artist-in-residence Samuel These components will be covered in a layer of plexiglass which is something Roy-Bois uses as a metaphor for the project’s open creative process. “Everyone’s going to be witnessing my trials, my successes. It’s a very can- did, spontaneous, improvised process.” Construction of the installation will carry through the fall term. The soundtrack and filming of the movie will also be made within the confines of the structure, which is located in the quadrangle between the library and daycare centre. “It’s going to be a road movie,” Roy- Bois said. “Which makes perfect sense to be shooting in a space that is 16 feet by 16 feet.” Roy-Bois said he has fine arts stu- Newest artist-in-residence dents helping him but hopes students from a diverse range of backgrounds will also participate in the project. For some students, Roy-Bois’ cre- ation of an accessible installation is a welcome addition to campus. “With something like public art, it shouldn’t be high-brow art,” said Dan Garrod, Langara student. “It should be accessible, it should be something that the masses can interpret and enjoy.” According to Tomo Tanaka, division chair of Langara’s creative arts depart- ment, public art’s true purpose is to evoke thought. “That’s the thing about public art, there’s stuff that you go ‘what the heck is that about?’ but at least it makes you stop and think,” said Tanaka.