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Banff Centre Mountain Film & Book Festival World Tour moving virtually

Dec 4, 2020 | 5:00 AM

The Banff Centre Mountain Film & Book Festival World Tour will go on this year despite COVID-19.

The annual festival is one of the largest and most prestigious film festivals in the world, and this year it will take place virtually.

The World Tour showcases over 400 films and in a typical year has 550 different communities across 40 countries take part.

This year, instead of attending a live event to watch the films, participants in the World Tour will be able to rent two different individual programs that will be available for a two-week time period.

The cost to rent a program is about $20 Canadian, with a portion of the proceeds going to help the Wapiti Nordic Ski Club.

The Club has taken part for 23 years.

The Festival normally takes place at the Grande Prairie Regional College and draws hundreds of people over several days. According to Geo Rawlins, one of the co-hosts in the Grande Prairie, it has always a popular event for the arts community in the Swan City.

“This has always been our major fundraiser for the Wapiti Nordic Ski Club. In the past, we’ve been lucky enough to have live performances at the Douglas J. Cardinal Theatre at the GPRC. This year a small portion of the proceeds of the rentals of the programs will go towards supporting the club in it’s day to day activities.”

Despite the festival moving online for 2021, the Ski Club says that its fundraising efforts from this event will greatly be impacted.

According to the FAQ section on its website, the ski club could potentially see an 85 per cent decrease in funds raised compared to previous years.

While fundraising efforts will be impacted, Rawlins is hopeful that more people will learn of this event and take advantage of some of the films that will be on display.

“With the restrictions we’ve all had to face over the last nine months with the COVID-19 pandemic, taking the film festival in the virtual direction gives a lot of people a chance to enjoy the film festival in their home.”

Rawlins added that programs are also transferable to other people and that it could make a good Christmas gift for someone, while also helping out the club.

Most of the films that are submitted have a theme associated with the outdoors and outdoor activities.