Capital Daily for Saturday, June 13

FernFest is back this Saturday after a $20,000 city grant pulled the free Fernwood festival out of the cancellation bin.

Fernwood Neighbourhood House had called the whole thing off in March, citing "organizational capacity constraints." Then a groundswell of community support, a new organizing team, and an emergency council grant turned things around in May. The catch: organizers initially missed the deadline to apply for the money.

This year's version is smaller. The festival that once ran up to three days now fits into a single afternoon and evening, noon to 10pm along Gladstone Avenue near Fernwood Square. More than 130 vendors are taking part, with music on the skate-park stage from TK the Artist, Garden City Soul Club, Millet, and The Bankes Brothers, plus a dunk tank with a city councillor in the hot seat.

Coun. Matt Dell, who co-sponsored the funding motion, called FernFest "one of the best things about living in Fernwood" and described the handoff to a new, younger crew as a transition story. Last year's edition drew an estimated 17,000 people, and organizers expect a similar turnout despite the shorter run.

Under the floor by the bar, contractors found two original load-bearing posts that had "likely been supporting the building for well over a century" — their bases rotted away. That's the kind of thing you only learn once you start pulling up boards.

Five weeks into renovations, Arts on View Society says Hermann's Jazz Club has cleared the debt that nearly closed it this spring. A $450K fundraising campaign hit its target inside a month, and board chair Al Smith says the GST bill that had gone unfiled since 2022 is now paid, along with the other outstanding debts.

What looked like a localized flooring problem turned out to be extensive rot under the bar. The City of Victoria, which owns the building, has committed to covering the flooring costs and will help with the structural repairs. The next phase tackles the wall between Hermann's kitchen and View Street Social.

The historic bar back, the decorative iron gates, and the bar top were all saved, and will go back in once the work is done. Behind the scenes, the society has moved to a new law firm and is rewriting its bylaws so it never lands here again.