The BC Cultural Crawl is a self-guided tour of community-initiated events: music, theatre and dance performances, visual arts, festivals, museum and heritage exhibitions, culinary arts, community art walks and more. The purpose of the Cultural Crawl is to promote the arts to visitors to your community -- and to help local people celebrate arts at home. The Cultural Crawl opens during the BC Day long weekend, and then the various community Cultural Crawls list events during the month of August. Each Crawl is listed at http://art-bc.com/bc-cultural-crawl.php so it is available to everyone.

If there is no existing Crawl in your community, you are encouraged to establish one -- in your unique way. If there is an existing Crawl, then the challenge is to develop it further -- adding events and getting more people involved -- or develop a second "themed" Crawl. Themes can be specific ethnic groups, historic events that shaped your community, or anything else important to your area.

Here's how to start a new Crawl:

• Establish your community's Cultural Crawl team and assign each member a specific leadership role.
• List the organizations you would like to include. Contact them by letter, email or phone inviting them to participate. Draft an itinerary; it helps to find a central starting point in the community and work from there.
• Think of local groups and organizations (Tourism Association, Chamber of Commerce, Cultural Department, BIA, City Parks & Recreation) that may be able to contribute financially.
• Think outside the box! You can include festivals, events and performances that are already taking place in August. Involve as many local businesses as possible (B&B's, restaurants, shops or attractions.)

To add an event -- such as a kick-off event for the BC Day weekend:

• Plan different ways to attract visitors, i.e. door prizes, performances, giveaways, workshops, etc.
• Invite local media to promote the event. It's their job to convey the information to their audience, so make sure you show them your event is newsworthy.
• Plan for staff and volunteers you may need. Use neighbourhood letters or organize community meetings to recruit people. Volunteers with graphic design and writing skills can be invaluable in creating professional and attractive material.
• Choose effective marketing vehicles to ensure people know about the event, get excited about it, and most importantly, attend.

Ultimately, the most important key is to put the power in the community's hands.
Send us your prepared Cultural Crawl or contact us at 604.521.7887 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to request your BC Cultural Crawl Participant Form.

The newly relaunched Art-BC.com, designed as a starting point for residents and visitors to begin their cultural adventure within British Columbia, is a fantastic tool for Arts Councils. New features include: an expanded search engine, more listings, new partnerships, image galleries, blogs and more.