Under the Volcano Festival
Under The Volcano Festival Of Art & Social Change was an activist, grassroots cultural gathering held at Whey-Ah-Wichen Cates Park on the traditional lands of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in North Vancouver, BC in August. Under the Volcano was Canada's largest annual political arts festival and was 100% volunteer produced. The festival took its name from the well-known book of the same name by Malcolm Lowry, who squatted adjacent to the festival site during the 1940s-50s.
The festival was started in 1990 by Vancouver social activist and artist Irwin Oostindie, and was produced by a dedicated group of volunteers until its 20th anniversary, in 2010. UTV featured a number of high-profile activists and entertainers in its 20 years of existence, including: Ward Churchill, Faith Nolan, Kinnie Starr, Paint, Kathleen Yearwood, Tegan & Sara, Naomi Klein and Lourdes Perez. The festival provided a platform for Indigenous sovereignty issues including unceded land issues in the province, well ahead of these issues becoming more recognized by dominant society.
Under the Volcano celebrated its last festival on August 8, 2010
