I had been wanting to go to the Bella Coola Music Festival for years but had always been working at Nuk Tessli.  The festival is run for two days but the forecast was not good for Saturday.  Sunday, as we paused at the top of the Bella Coola Hill, did not look great either.  (Note the notch in the trees where the road goes through.)Down on the valley floor.The Bella Coola Music Festival is very much family-orientated with no drugs or alcohol allowed.  Sunday was especially designed for kids.  They even took first place on the stage.

Then the grown-up bands performed.  I am not much a music follower and had never heard of the groups, but the music was great!  Not something I would necessarily play at home, but to see and hear it performed live was wonderful.

The sound system was excellent -albeit, for me, a little loud.  I wore my chain-sawing ear protectors – so did a few others.People of all ages were dancing, but it is hard to capture the movement in a still photograph.

The climbing wall was occupied non-stop.

A young man on stilts dressed in various costumes.  The kids followed him as though he were the Pied Piper.And yes, those are rain drops!There were great face paintings,And bubble dancing.Inevitably, though, the rain thickened.Having left home at crack of dawn (not quite) I was ready to call it a day by supper time.  Many people were just arriving, however, bringing chairs and sleeping bags and more umbrellas.  The last band was scheduled for 10.00:pm, for a dance.  On Saturday the dance finished after midnight and this one was likely to do so as well.

Sanjey and I were going to stay with my friends in the upper part of the Bella Coola Valley.  As we drove home we had a great look at a young black bear turning over rocks for ants beside the road.