It's the day the teddy bears have their music festival.
On April 27, Dancing Bear returns to Quest University for the 12th year to entertain Squamish students and locals.
The one-day festival celebrates the end of the semester and spring. One of the event's producers, Josh Visser, said they're expecting around 1,000 people, including families, kids — 12 and under are free — and students.
"It's a really cool mix of people from the community," Visser said of the campus's largest public event.
Seven bands take the stage starting at 4 p.m. to perform a mix of soul, hip hop, electronic, country and indie rock. New bands to the Quest campus include electronic duo DiRTY RADiO, female punk band The Pack A.D., Vancouver's indie electronic group I M U R and the funk-R&B group Schwey. Student bands, Vissers said, are always a hit.
Off-stage, Visser said Dancing Bear is bringing in more non-musical activities, which were previously held as a separate event.
A beer garden features local brews from Backcountry Brewing and Cliffside Cider, while food trucks are on hand and local vendors sell their goods at the community market. For the first time, a mechanical bull will join the fray and there will be a car giveaway.
Tickets can be purchased at questu.ca/dancingbear.
