Chilliwack band to host free concert all while raising money for Bowls of Hope

A local band is gearing up for its 13th annual concert on Dec. 13, and this year they’re going to be doing it for charity.

Every year Chilliwack alt-punk folk band, Like Bears, presents its ‘Vestival’ music festival.

“Despite COVID we wanted to continue our annual tradition and try to do some good with it as well,” said band member Leo Nickle.

As with pretty much every event in 2020, this year Vestival will be different. Not surprisingly, it’ll be a virtual concert, but it’ll also be a fundraiser for Chilliwack Bowls of Hope Society.

Bowls of Hope provides soup and other hot lunch items for kids in the Chilliwack School District. Approximately 17,000 bowls of soup are dished out each month to 850 kids in need through the program.

This isn’t the first time the band has done some good for the community. They actually give their music out at no charge.

“We release all of our music for free. Even the physical copies are free. We really like to make our music accessible,” Nickle said back in April when they released album Fling Mingo. “When I see a bunch of kids singing along to our songs, that is what means more to me than anything.”

ALSO READ: Chilliwack alt-punk folk band Like Bears ready to release free album via livestream show

Vestival 13 will be a livestream concert on Twitch.TV featuring Like Bears and a set from Lowercase Dream (the solo act of Kier Junos from the band Casinos).

It is a free concert, but Nickel is asking everyone to donate some money to Bowls of Hope through the GoFundMe account he has set up at gofundme.com/f/7ghzr-vestival-13-bowls-for-hope-fundraiser.

The story behind Vestival is a very silly one, Nickle added.

Many years ago, he was playing a show with his old band plus another band where the members were all wearing vests.

“We were making a lot of vest puns with them and we joked that we should put on a vestival. So, we did that and have been putting one on every year since 2007,” he said. “Over the years, I am sure I have heard every vest pun imaginable.”

Vestival 13 takes place Sunday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. Go to Twitch.TV to watch. Or go to the Facebook event for more info. They’ve also set up a hashtag of #Vestival13 where people can posts pictures of their vests.