Fernie’s events have been sporadic at best however on the past weekend Fernie took off with a number of great events. In fact there were so many events that attending them all was next to impossible. Those events that I did attend were inspiring and and the inaugural Wapiti Music Festival was at the top of the list.

It began Friday evening and continued through Saturday with a great lineup of entertainment. The new music festival focused on Canadian Indie music and featured such bands as Elliott Brood, Yukon Blond, Library Voices, The Matinée and recent Juno award winners Said The Whale.

The Wapiti was a great success in its first year thanks to a number of factors. A savvy group of hard working organizers from the legendary festival “The Gathering” and lead by “Taste of Fernie” organizer Kevin McIssac, executed a seemingly flawless event. McIssac commented, “from an organizers perspective we were thrilled with the outcome and support from the community in volunteers and sponsors, and look forward to a repeat event in 2012!”

The weather was perfect and the setting was inspiring; the Annex Park created a refreshing backdrop for nature lovers with the duck ponds and the Elk River was there to cool off on a hot day. A bike lock up encouraged locals to ride and the kids corner made bringing the whole family a success. Be sure to mark it on your list to do for next summer!

Here are a few images, click to enlarge: