Save the date for the 2nd Annual Salmon Sessions Music Festival August 24, 2024

Our Mission:

To fund and facilitate the future of live music in communities outside major metropolitan areas and ensure that performers and concert support workers are paid a sustainable, living wage.

Management:

Penmar Community Arts Society consists of a variety of professionals who have an interest in creating live music experiences for the benefit of artists, audiences and the local music economy and we work with various community partners and advisors in the live music industry in BC and Canada.

What we do:

We develop sustainable fundraising programs to fund the future of live music.

We provide grants to support live music venues and the artists that play there.

We provide live music booking, production and marketing services to communities outside of major metro areas in Canada.

Penmar Community Arts Society is a registered Canadian Charity that is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. It was formed in Penticton in 2013 with the goal of establishing and operating a performance arts centre in a heritage building in Penticton, BC.   When the building was bought out by a winery in 2015, Penmar changed its focus to a Provincial one and in 2016 relocated its operations to Surrey, BC and has been creating fundraising initiatives and supporting live music events in the South Fraser Region as well as Penticton ever since.

Penmar has had a positive economic impact in communities:

Live Music Events produced by Penmar Community Arts Society:

200+ concerts              800+artists and groups          

Over $900,000 into local music economies

2016/2017 : Ocean Park Hall Indie Series featuring local indie artists.

2017/2019 : The Flamingo – 155 shows over a year in three venues. Performances included local showcases in a variety of genres, comedy nights, cultural events and a corporate battle of the bands.  Genres encompassed were rock, country, funk, metal, punk, tributes and urban.

2019 : Cloverdale Concerts – a six show series produced in Shannon Hall on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.

2021 : Indie Mondays Virtual Series : Indie Monday series used a local community hall as a studio to record video and audio of local, emerging bands.  The Bands were provided with the video recording to use as collateral to promote themselves and apply for other performance opportunities, both during and post covid.  The recordings were also broadcast as a  series and included live video chat with the artists. Advertising was be targeted to fans in communities that these bands would normally travel to for live performances.

2021-2023: Ocean Park Hall community concert series.  A monthly series featuring local bands playing the best of the 60's, 70's and 80's.

2018 - 2023: Music Lottery Raffle series, the only raffle in BC dedicated to supporting musicians and the venues they play in.

2023: *NEW* The Salmon Sessions, a fundraising concert for the Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club to raise money for a new hatchery.

Education programs produced by Penmar Community Arts Society:

2018 : Canada Summer Jobs Program. We hired and worked with 5 students over the summer providing supervision, mentorship and practical experience in music business related skills such as social media marketing, event planning and execution, graphic design and branding and talent booking and hospitality.

2019 : Canada Summer Jobs Program. We hired and supervised 2 local youth with connections to the local music industry to develop branding, sales and marketing plans for Music Lottery and the Cloverdale Concert Series.

2020 : Canada Summer Jobs Program. We hired and supervised 4 local youth who provided us with the resources to develop plans for new innovative funding strategies and opportunities for live music in BC. We’ll be making more announcements soon and can’t wait to share our new plans. 

2021/2022: Canada Summer Jobs Program.  We hired and mentored 4 local youth to work on community festival and event marketing plans.

2023: Canada Summer Jobs Program.  We hired and mentored 2 local youth to support the development of a community classical concert series and other events supported by Penmar.