The best of city and country is here in the mountains
“Are you a city person or a small town person?” That’s a question many people have asked me over the years, usually after I’ve told them I grew up in a small town in B.C. but spent a number of years living in the heart of Vancouver.
Most people to whom I have posed that same question have a definitive answer, positioning themselves firmly as city folk or country dwellers. They may enjoy spending time in one, but they are firmly rooted in the other.
I have never had much luck with an answer to that question, as my home in Canmore and the Bow Valley offers the best of both worlds. The Bow Valley communities of Canmore and Banff have the friendly neighbours and great volunteer network you’d expect in much smaller towns, but also offer fabulous restaurants, cultural events on par with large cities, arts organizations unparalleled in the country, and, most importantly, the passion it takes to keep these things alive and thriving.
There is almost a guilty pleasure in capping an active day outdoors with an evening out at a hip new restaurant followed by an avant garde art opening at The Banff Centre. How could life be so good?
It’s simple. Life is so good because this part of the world is so perfectly beautiful that it attracts both full-time residents and visitors in the numbers that can sustain all the good things on offer.
The Banff Centre is one of those very good things, especially in these heady, summer months, when The Banff Summer Arts Festival fills the calendar with an amazingly long list of cultural events. Will it be an evening at the ballet, an afternoon concert with rising stars in classical music, a few hours exploring the new works of visual artists in their studios, or perhaps a mind-bending exploration of new themes in cultural journalism with a renowned Canadian author?
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As I write about these options, I can hardly believe the work that must go into such an elaborate and expansive summer program. And all for our pure enjoyment.
The wonderful thing is that The Banff Centre has so much to see and do year-round, to which can be added the fabulous season of festivals held in Canmore each year. Canmore’s “festival season” kicks off with the Canmore Children’s Festival in May, and doesn’t slow down until the Festival of Eagles in October — good reasons to visit Canmore, and even better ones to live here! Add in art gallery openings, the Banff Book & Film Festival in the fall, community theatre, great live music in the bars and restaurants, and you begin to see why the Bow Valley has the best of both the city and the country.
- Shari Bishop Bowes, Editor, SolaraLife
Welcome from Editor: At bottom, change to: We welcome your comments and suggestions, as well as submissions from freelance writers who have a passion for the Canadian Rockies. Contact us at contact@solaralife.com
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