A simple photo shoot in downtown Chemainus last week provided an instant idea for a potential tourism draw.
Five men and three ladies assembled to promote the upcoming wind-up of the Chemainus Classic Car Club’s season meets and promptly attracted a crowd.
In fact, people were drawn to the parking lot of the Chemainus Public Market like magnets to see what was going on. Even the folks in the nearby Chemainus & District Chamber of Commerce office were caught unawares by the rush of activity.
There were a lot of tourists and locals around town that day just casually wandering around by Waterwheel Park, looking at the murals or having an ice cream when they were awakened to something worth checking out further.
The club members Jodie Greis-Phillips had assembled for the photo shoot were all dressed in gangster garb and carrying around boxes of liquor and bags of money (paper) to set the scene. It was an attention-getter, for sure.
It just goes to show all it takes is a little something interesting that’s out of the ordinary to get peoples’ attention. This could become a concept Chemainus can build upon.
Perhaps there could be occasional snippets of plays put on by the Chemainus Theatre or other groups in the Cowichan Valley at the Waterwheel Square for tourists to stop and watch. It doesn’t have to be long, but brief performances to entertain people wandering around seemingly trying to figure out what to do with themselves.
For those who’ve been to Barkerville in the B.C. Cariboo region, it’s quite fascinating to have some historical figures act out a scene as you’re checking out the buildings and walking through the park.
Chemainus seems tailor-made to have a revolving series of performances – both historical and theatrical in nature – perhaps throughout the summer months and into September. This month, there are still numerous people travelling through our region, particularly seniors, of course, who often wait until the kids are back in school before embarking on adventures.
The element of surprise carries a lot of weight and would give people something to watch while they’re here, but mostly keep them around and keep them coming back.