It is the best kind of Chaos.
Vernon's annual Creative Chaos Festival will run June 6-8 at the Vernon Recreation Centre, using the auditorium, Dogwood Gym, Priest Valley Arena, and Vernon Curling Club for its miletone 50th anniversary festival. The event has drawn 226 vendors showcasing their wares in arts, jewelry, food, and other craft ventures.
"The public keeps coming back because our vendors come from so many places," said festival treasurer Margaret McGillivray, a life member of Creative Chaos.
Added festival chairperson and fellow life member Ingrid Baron: "Say a potter starts a line with a certain glaze, people will come back to get a new piece. I also get questions all year about a vendor from Manitoba, who is back this year, and makes high-quality wood board games. People look for him at Christmas."
Creative Chaos is the one of the largest and most outstanding happenings in the presentation of arts and crafts to the public, organized by a 12-member committee which includes McGillivray and Baron. Both ladies have been with Creative Chaos for decades.
McGillivray made her own line of clothing before going strictly behind the festival scenes in 1996.
Baron's introduction to the festival began when she was a Grade 11 Vernon Senior Secondary School art student in 1975, and her class created a piece of artwork that became and remains the Creative Chaos logo. She became a vendor, also selling her own clothing line, and has been with the committee for nearly three decades.
Creative Chaos' roots go back to 1970 when artisans Barbara york and Eva Prokopetz needed a place for gifted crafts people in the field of ceramics to display their creations to the public. They were not allowed to enter other shows as their art was deemed "not a craft."
The first exhibition was held in the rec centre auditorium and was called the Arts and Ceramics Show.
York and Jack Boutiller, in 1975, felt merging the annual Okanagan Ceramics Show with the Vernon Arts Council was a good idea, and that's how Creative Chaos came about. The various crafts were now available for sale, as well as be on display. Performing arts and the food fair was part of the original Creative Chaos show.
"Everything was in the curling rink with the schools displaying their art, and woodworking, metal work, and more was in the auditorium," said Baron.
Creative Chaos expanded in 1995, celebrating its 20th anniversary, to include the Priest Valley Arena.
The 50th anniversary Chaos will feature vendors displaying products like books, candles, clothing, glass/resin, all kinds of jewelry, leather, liquor, specialty food, pottery, sculptures, carvings, metal, naturals, and original art.
As is always the case, the public will be the judge and jury of the crafts.
"They're our toughest critics," said McGillivray. "This was the original intention of the founding members as they felt that a lot of crafters were not getting a chance to show their crafts.
There will be 50th anniversary cupcakes available on Sunday, June 8, and on the same day, a special Kids Zone will be held at the Dogwood Gym featuring performers like Estry the Illusionist; Dallas the Parrot doing magic tricks; Evan the Juggler; and Hatch-A-Chick. There will also be crafts and colouring, and a truck from Vernon Fire Rescue Services will be in the rec centre's fire lane.
Food vendors will be on-site throughout the weekend at the Centennial Outdoor Rink.
Creative Chaos will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, June 6; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 7; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 8. There is a free shuttle bus that begins at 10 a.m. each day and runs until 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday from Kal Tire Place and the Schubert Centre.
Admission to the festival is free though either a cash donation or donation of a non-perishable food item to the Salvation Army Food Bank is requested.
Coldstream Elementary School has been selected as the Students Showcase winner for 2025, meaning the school will receive $500 from the festival, and Coldstream students' artwork will be displayed in the Vernon Curling Club entrance for all visitors to enjoy curing the 50th anniversary event.
More information on the festival and its vendors can be found at .
The 2025 Creative Chaos will also be the last to be held at the rec centre. The festival is planning to move to Kal Tire Place and Kal Tire Place North arenas for 2026.
