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WAC Performance Series most successful yet

Arts council sold more tickets than ever before by offering food and gallery events, plus liquor license
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The Whistler Arts Council's (WAC) 2014-15 Performance Series was its most successful to date in terms of attendance.

All but two of the shows sold out, said Lucie Lareau, WAC's senior manager, events and programs.

The winter season had eight concerts, including Said the Whale and Tokyo Police Club, and showed three, filmed Shakespeare play productions from Britain's Globe Theatre.

Lareau said the approach of combining visual art openings in the gallery space adjacent to the auditorium in Millennium Place, along with food events paired with concerts and shows, was a popular addition to the Performance Series repertoire.

The liquor license was added for 19-plus events this season.She added in an interview that WAC was considering expanding the performance series, starting in October 2015, a month earlier, and running it until April or May 2016.

BC Arts Council hands out $20,950 in grants

Four arts groups in the Sea to Sky region are the recipients of $20,950 in grants.

The Whistler Arts Council was given $7,225 towards funding the 32nd annual Whistler Children's Festival; the Squamish Arts Council received $3,750 for arts programming for the 2015 Squamish Wind Festival; the Point Artist-Run Centre Society in Whistler received $2,975 to support the fourth annual Flag Stop Theatre and Arts Festival; and Whistler's Vicious Circle Writers Group received $7,000 to support the fees of guest authors attending the 2015 Whistler Writers Festival.

Whistler Singers spring concert

The Whistler Singers are performing their annual spring concert at Millennium Place on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m.

The theme is a trip across Canada, with classics to be sung from difference provinces and from different periods in the country's history.

The program includes "Canadian Railroad Trilogy," "Four Strong Winds," "The Hockey Song," and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."

Tickets are $12 and available at the Millennium Place box office.

GO Fest showing six adventure films

Six adventure films are being show at this year's GO Fest Adventure Film Series, sponsored by the Whistler Film Festival.

All films are being shown at Millennium Place. Tickets are $10, with a series pass costing $50. Tickets are available at www.whistlerfilmfestival.com.

On Saturday, May 16, three films will be shown: Sunshine Superman (U.S./Norway, 2014) at 1 p.m. tells the story of Carl Boenish, "the father of BASE jumping;" The Search for Freedom (Canada, 2015) at 4 p.m. tells the story of the action-sports revolution; and Dog Days of Winter (U.S., 2014) at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. tells the history of freestyle skiing.

On Sunday, May 17, are the final three: Antarctica: A Year on Ice (New Zealand, 2013) at 1 p.m.; The Old, the Young and the Sea (Austria, 2014) at 4 p.m. about surfing in Europe; and Rad Company (Canada/U.S./Fiji, 2014) at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. about free-ride mountain biking champion Brandon Semenuk's Rad Company.

Squamish Festival wins award

The Squamish Valley Music Festival has been named Best Public Entertainment Event at the 2015 Canadian Event Industry Awards.

The awards ceremony is an annual event marking high achievement in the Canadian event industry.

The festival is also a finalist for Best Overseas Festival at the U.K. Festival Awards and a nominee at the 2015 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards.

SVMF takes place from Aug. 6 to 9, 2015.