Banff's Cave and Basin National Historic Site is offering a chance to partake in a bygone era.
Banff's Cave and Basin National Historic Site is offering a chance to partake in a bygone era.
The First World War Tavern Nights will transport you back to the beginning of the 20th century through music, stories and with the help of authentic food and drink.
Tavern nights will take place July 31 and Aug. 1-2 from 8-10 p.m. and will feature period costume, stories, film and an offering of a Great War porter beer created by Banff Ave. Brewing Co. just for the occasion.
The event is a creative way to launch a month of programming for the site, which will commemorate the First World War, and is part of the leadup to Canada's 150th anniversary of confederation in 2017.
“It's helping to mark significant milestones that shaped Canada, so we are having this month of programming and we thought what would be a way to bring a cross-section of the community into a story that is often overlooked,” said Heather Walter, BNP visitor experience product developer. “We thought we might bring in a crowd that would be younger, but also help to honour those who served and to those that know the story more intimately - so it's the first time trying this.”
Of course, the Cave and Basin is no stranger to hosting fun and interactive programming, such as the scotch and chocolate tasting event held last January, but the research, planning and community inclusiveness to bring the tavern nights to fruition has taken a lot of local hands to come to life.
“We have reached out to the Legions in the Bow Valley in hopes that they will see this as a way they can take part and be part of our programming as well,” Walter said. Professional singer Karen J. Minish, a local performer, will deliver great songs of the era, including such numbers as, “Pack up Your Troubles,” “It's a Long Way to Tipperary” and “Keep the Home Fires Burning” to name a few.
“It was a time when the music really did identify a culture and capture a mood,” Walter said. “A culture of the time that was very jaunty and upbeat even though it was such a chaotic time and the world really was in crisis.
“With the music you get some of the very sad songs like ‘We Will Meet Again,' but then there's the jaunty ‘Pack up Your Troubles' that is a carry on and stiff upper lip song - a part that probably reflects our British heritage.”
The programming over the tavern nights will include performance pieces and sing-a-long pieces that will capture the mood of a public house during the Great War, complimented by rare and stunning footage from the era projected on a big screen.
“We'll have some NFB (National Film Board) footage from World War I, as well as a soundtrack of original recordings from the era, which will be an interesting balance,” Walter said. “We'll also have 10 interpreters who will be in uniform, half of whom will be from the Signal Hill National Historic Site and who are representing the Newfoundland Regiment and Royal Naval forces from the World War I era, and our own interpreters being in uniform.”
Banff Ave. Brewing is a partner for the event, and produced a commemorative beer for the night. “It's actually a porter and represents the background research they did to come up with the idea for that as the specific brew for the evening,” Walter said.
A cost of $35 includes the evening's entertainment, food and commemorative ceramic beer stein filled with a first beer “on the house” - Bully idea. For tickets, call 403-845-6680 or purchase at Banff Ave. Brew Co., (110 Banff Ave., second floor of the Clock Tower Mall), or at the Cave and Basin Café.
