1. Vancouver Island’s Funkanometry places 2nd in Canada’s Got Talent, May 14
Vancouver Island’s funky dance duo took home second place on Canada’s Got Talent’s season finale last year.
Although Funkanometry’s Jacksun Fryer from Nanaimo and Carlow Rush from Duncan didn’t take home the grand prize of $1 million, they survived the first elimination round and made the top four before singer Rebecca Strong from Prince Albert, Sask., was named winner.
For their grand finale on the show, Fryer and Rush took a risk and put the flow of their routine in the hands of judges Howie Mandel, Lilly Singh, Trish Stratus and Kardinal Offishall, who could control them “like a video game” with paddles that read faster, slower, or reverse. As they danced to Queen’s We Are the Champions, the duo adjusted their routine to fit the directive.
Singh was amazed they decided to “take the biggest moment of their lives and leave it up to the judges.”
2. Downtown Nanaimo café celebrating anniversary with 12 hours of entertainment, Jan. 25
A café in Nanaimo’s downtown core celebrated 10 years in the community with 12 hours of free entertainment.
The anniversary event featured more than 20 performers throughout the business’ history – as well as some new faces. Those on the list included Fine, New Age Dolls, and Coal Moon.
“There’s people flying back in from the early days…” said Jeremy Van Wyck, with the Vault Café. “It’s pretty cool thinking about the scope of the amount of people who have kind of come up and played their first gig here and moved on, and some people are still here.”
3. ‘Must-see’ folk band plays Nanaimo for the first time, Feb. 14
A quartet described as a must-see act performed in Nanaimo in February. The Unfaithful Servants, who boast an original approach to acoustic music, played the Unitarian Hall stage on Feb. 17.
After releasing their debut album, Deliver Me, the band earned a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for New Group of the Year in 2020. Since forming with their current lineup, they have performed at the Vancouver Island Musicfest, the Islands Folk Festival and elsewhere.
Guitarist and group co-founder Dylan Stone said they have a “pretty solid show they’ve been building over the years lined up” and were excited to debut in Nanaimo. Their music covers classic themes such as death, love and the human experience, he said.
4. Nanaimo-based artist wins prestigious international award, Dec. 13
A Nanaimo-based artist was recognized with a prestigious international award for his work painting layered transparent installations.
David Spriggs was presented the Fondation Jacques Rougerie Académie des beaux-arts Artistic Prize for Space in Paris. His piece titled Vision gained the attention of the academy, which he has displayed in France, various places in Canada, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
“It was absolutely phenomenal, really, to have such honour from abroad and one of the most important institutions for art in the world. It’s really amazing to be there to experience the award ceremony. [It] was at the Institut de France, this absolutely beautiful building across the river from the Louvre,” Spriggs said.
The artist has coined the term “stratachrome” to describe the way he layers colours onto transparent sheets. He first explored the idea in 1999, when he created a piece called Red Pepper using cross sections of a pepper photographed and printed on transparent sheets.
5. Concerts in the park planned throughout spring and summer in Nanaimo, May 9
Motown, indie rock, folk, blues and Celtic were all genres featured in this year’s Concerts in the Park series, featuring local musical artists in Nanaimo’s various public parks.
The free series included 15 artists across 11 different shows beginning May 12 and ending in late August.
Mayor Leonard Krog said the popular event is a great way to showcase local talent, attract tourism and give the community something to enjoy.
“I’ve often jokingly said, I’ve read a lot of history [and] no nation or civilization collapsed because they had too much art and culture,” Krog said in a pres release. “Supporting the cultural side of your community and giving people the opportunity to hear music is healthy. It’s healthy for the people listening, it’s healthy because it draws people together in public venues and it enables our local talent to develop and get experience.”
6. More than 200 singers will come together for carol festival in Nanaimo, Nov. 30
Nine Nanaimo choirs launched this past Christmas season with a Community Carol Festival at St. Andrew’s United Church.
The choirs took turns singing select pieces, while also singing with the audience. Marian Smith, founder and organizer of the festival, said there [were] more than 200 singers involved.
“This is basically a sharing of Christmas music with all of the choirs that are involved,” she said. “It makes for a really wonderful sound when everybody gets singing carols and a lovely beginning to Christmas.”
7. City of Nanaimo announces winners of this year’s culture awards, March 13
Three Nanaimo residents were recognized for their efforts and contributions to the city’s culture last year. The City of Nanaimo announced that award-winning musician Paul Gogo, Bhangra dancer Sukhi Sangha and world champion Highland dancer Annalise Lam were the recipients of this year’s City of Nanaimo Culture Awards.
Gogo, keyboardist for the rock band Trooper since 1995, received two coveted awards in 2023: induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Sangha is the founder of Vancouver Island Bhangra and through her cultural education and outreach in the sharing and promotion of Bhangra – a type of Indian folk dance of the Punjab area – she has fostered inclusivity, cultural education and preservation.
Lam is the first Highland dancer from Nanaimo to win a world championship, and the first dancer from Vancouver Island to win it in 40 years.
8. Seven bands to perform at Christmas benefit concert in Nanaimo, Dec. 8
A night of rock and blues music at the Queen’s supported a local non-profit organization in the lead-up to Christmas.
Michael Patrick organized seven bands including his own, Blues Explosion, to perform at the concert on Dec. 13 to raise money for the Nanaimo Association for Community Living. “It’s going to be a really good night, really good bands,” Patrick said.
9. Prequel to crime novel inspired by Nanaimo’s fishing industry, Aug. 20
Nanaimo’s fishing industry in the 1950s-60s served as a main source of inspiration for Kim Blank’s crime novel prequel, The Fisherman’s Secret.
Born in Nanaimo, Blank is currently a professor of English at the University of Victoria. In 2023, he released The Watchers’ Club, an action and adventure novel based on the real murders of Diane Phipps and Leslie Dixon during the 1960s in Nanaimo. The book is set in the fictional town of Eastfield, inspired by Nanaimo.
Following that book’s June 2023 release, Blank told the News Bulletin that he wrote the novel as a portrayal of how small rural communities deal with violent and mysterious acts. Details were changed from the real-life events that inspired it, including the perpetrator and resolution, as well as entire characters, creating a distance from the real-life tragedy.
10. Musician creates theme for haunted docuseries about Nanaimo, May 5
A Nanaimo musician dug her way into the grave business of paranormal activity. Or, at least, wrote the theme music for it. Last year, vocalist Elise Boulanger was commissioned to create a signature piece for the seven-part StoryHive docuseries Spirit Seekers, which explores claims of paranormal activities surrounding six Nanaimo locations.
“I was excited about the idea, just because I like haunting things,” Boulanger said. “I find that they’re very alluring and captivating to the ear. And people often say I have a haunting sound.”