Creating experiences
New hands-on program launches in Kings County
A walk in the woods recently provided the inspiration for eight people to write a song.
Kim Barlow and Freya Milliken accompanied them through the Acadian forest behind the West Brooklyn Community Hall.
“We did what we call a soundwalk where you do deep listening,” Barlow explained. “You try and pay attention to all of the sounds that we often tune out in the course of a normal day.”
After 40 minutes of soaking in the quiet sounds of nature, the group went back inside the hall and wrote a song called Yet We Sing.
“Most of them had never written a song before or thought of themselves as particularly musical, but they discovered that they do have music in them,” Barlow said.
“It was kind of easy for all these words to come tumbling out.”
It is the basis for SoundWalk and Song-crafting: An Annapolis Valley Nature and Community Music Experience. It is one of 15 new business experiences created as part of a foodartnature experiential tourism program in Kings County.
“It’s a really cool thing that’s happening and I am really happy to be part of it,” Barlow said.
She is the executive director of Music in Communities, a non-profit co-op formed in 2019 to promote music literacy, present live music, support under-represented voices, and strengthen communities through shared musical experiences.
She shared her experience’s story during the foodartnature experiential tourism program launch May 11 at the Wolfville Farmers’ Market.
ORIGINS
The program began with relationships, said Kelly Marie Redcliffe, executive director of the Wolfville Farmers’ Market. She is one of the program management team members along with Soren BondrupNielsen, president of the Blomidon Naturalists Society, and Celes Davar, founder of Earth Rhythms.
“All three of us have a love of nature and food and community,” she said.
They had discussed getting more people on farms to experience and value what was happening there. But none of the groups had the resources to take it to the next level.
When information about a federal tourism relief fund came across Redcliffe’s desk, she thought this could be the impetus to put into action what they had talked about. They put together a proposal and received $265,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).
“It was bloody scary at the time,” Bondrup-Nielsen recalled.
“One of the first things I said to Celes is, ‘I’m not a tourist,’” he noted. “But during the course of working together it became clear to me that this really is something that’s needed.”
There were challenges as they built the program from the ground up.
“We knew where we wanted to get but how the heck are we going to get there?” BondrupNielsen said. “We really did forge the path as we went along.”
He said it’s not scary anymore. Davar said they issued an expression of interest and received about 20 replies. Some chose not to proceed during the process.
“We got these amazing stories from people who live here, who are passionate about living here,” he said. “They had stories to tell.”
He credited the experience partners for investing their time while going through the development process.
“Everybody who stepped into this project, stepped in all in.”
Testing was done through pilot projects, videos were created and a website, with an ecommerce platform, launched.
The experiences, which are each about 3.5 hours, range from $50 per person to $170 per person with 10 per cent going back to foodartnature to help sustain the program.
Davar said they offer storytelling, hand-on experiences
and each has a strong commitment to sustainability. He has operated an experiential tourism business for 27 years.
“I don’t see tourism as an industry,” he said. “I see tourism as a relationship; a relationship between host communities and host businesses welcoming and inviting travellers and residents to come here.”
Davar said they received information from Tourism Nova Scotia showing that 60 per cent of out-of-province residents staying more than one night are known as learners.
“They want exactly this kind of experience,” he said.
For years, tourism was predicated on demographics. But Davar said recent research suggested how much someone earned or where they live was less important.
“So, what is relevant for travel? It’s their motivations and social values,” he said. “They will align their travel with their particular interests.”
Davar said he sees potential for people to spend time in the Valley and enjoy more than one experience during their trip, creating more spinoffs for local businesses.
“You could come out here, stay at a B&B, take a chocolate experience in the afternoon and take a morning goat walk in Kingston the next day – cool.”
FUTURE
While there is no huge marketing budget to get the word out, Davar said there are some things they are hoping to do, including bringing in some travel writers, to spread the word.
“The proof will be in the pudding, will people come, will we get them out there? Well, we have some work to do.”
He is confident there’s a market and people will come. When they experience what the Valley has to offer, they will share their experience with friends and it will grow organically. Organizers are also hopeful they will be able to share their story on the province’s website.
The federal funding was only for one year, but Davar said they will be exploring other avenues to raise funds.
“There are other grants and other programs we’re going after to help us leverage this in a different way going forward.”
He noted there are potentially more experiences that could be created to expand the program.
“This is the launch of a journey,” Redcliffe said. “I don’t know exactly how this journey unfolds, but it looks pretty awesome so far.”