You Might Be a Dirtbag

What makes us proud to call the place we live home? What unites us together in our shared sense of purpose and belonging?

In Kimberley, for over 92 years, it was the holes we dug in the ground, the thousands who gathered to extract precious metals from the world’s largest lead and zinc mine. It was a town toughened by grit and the damp echo of 500 kilometres of tunnels beneath us. Yet, when the mine closed in 2001, Kimberley began the search for a new identity, beyond the one previously carved underfoot — an identity that celebrated our stunning landscape and the small-town charm that drew us towards it.

In 2007, the annual event (from founders Kevin Sheppit and Bruce Kirkby) became an integral part of Kimberley’s culture: The Dirtbag Festival, a visual celebration of the elusive dirtbag lifestyle. The Dirtbag Festival website describes the festival as a “celebration of the lifestyle we ski bums, climbers, hikers, travellers, and outdoor enthusiasts know and love in the Kootenays.” In its 2007 inaugural opener, local dirtbag icons attempt to explain the

Dirtbag

noun

ORIGIN: Kimberley, BC term “dirtbag.” According to Dave Quinn, “The most valuable thing a dirtbag has is time to spend with friends and to explore passions. Way down on this list is money.” Quinn believes calling someone a dirtbag, “is to lay a really nice compliment on them.”

DEFINITION: a person who prioritizes the thrill and search for adventure over work, love, and money.

Dirtbag co-founder — and host of the Travel Channel’s ‘Big Crazy Family Adventure’— Bruce Kirkby says, “Dirtbag’s got a bad sound, but it’s a great thing.” Kirkby believes that the success of the Dirtbag Festival is that it speaks, “to what we value, and why we were here. And folks like seeing what their friends and neighbours shot in the last year, as opposed to going to Banff to see what the entire world has produced, so it’s become a very intimate event.” Steve Tersmette, past Dirtbag producer states, “Dirtbaggery is our lifeblood. Look out our backyard. How can we not be a town of dirtbags?” shots, pirate outfits, and props crafted by parents. It became a bit of an obsession for the year prior to Dirtbag,” director Ryan Lunge said, “but we had such a blast.”

This year’s festival, produced by Chantel Delaney and Natalie Skokan of Original Goat Productions, will occur at Centre 64 (May 12th and 13th). The Friday night will feature the results of the 24-hour photo challenge, a ten-person, time-limited photography contest focusing on the shoulder season theme (a travel industry term used to describe the off-peak months of the year). On Saturday, there’s a matinee screening of films, an all-day Makers Market hosted by Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise (KORE), and an evening of dirtbag films (local and beyond) with an afterparty featuring our own local dirtbag twangers, Alderbash.

How does a town celebrate its identity and culture? It gathers in a sold-out theatre, hoots and hollers as photos and films flash upon a screen. It stands teary-eyed, smiling, sending ovations to the dirtbags we’ve lost. It celebrates the lifestyle of living in the East Kootenay, among the people who are proud to call Kimberley home, and the Dirtbag its festival.

“If your Jumbo Wild stickers are all that’s holding your bumper onto your 1985 Toyota Tercel, you might be a dirtbag.”

– JOHN HANER, JEDI DIRTBAG | Dirtbag 2013 Opener: https://vimeo.com/61196278

The Dirtbag Festival website describes the festival as a “celebration of the lifestyle we ski bums, climbers, hikers, travellers, and outdoor enthusiasts know and love in the Kootenays.”

One of the main goals of Dirtbag, through all its incarnations and different producers, has been to provide a platform for budding filmmakers to be on the stage with professional filmmakers. In the past, Kimberley filmmakers have gone on to win awards and acclaim. Dirtbag’s 2011 People’s Choice Award winner, fifteen-yearold Kalum Ko, went on to a successful commercial film career and being one of nine 2019 international nominees for the Best Young Director Award, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Dirtbag films have showcased a collage of wild adventures: family canoe trips through Alaska, solemn Indian pilgrimages, 15-year-olds urban skiing off curling-rink rooftops, and a Kimberley father who built a 16-foot-long pirate ship replica in his backyard to produce a film with the neighbourhood kids — including special effects, green screen, waterfall cable cam

Dirtbag Festival Event Dates

MAY 1ST Films due for entry. Tickets go on sale.

MAY 6TH Photographer’s day of shooting for challenge

MAY 12TH Photographer’s Show: Photographers 24-Hour Challenge

MAY 13TH Matinee Screening of films. All-day makers markets hosted by KORE. Evening of films and afterparty featuring Alderbash.

Reach out to originalgoatproduction@gmail.com for more information.

FILM PRIZES

FIRST PLACE $1,000 Cash

BEST LOCAL FILM Four Day Passes to Kimberley Alpine Resort for the 2023/24 Season 24-Hour-Photography Challenge

DOOR PRIZES

FIRST PLACE Icelantic skis from Black Dog Cycle & Ski ($1,000 value)

PEOPLE'S CHOICE $500 Cash

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50,000 eyes are nothing to sniff at. That’s a lot of people! It means that every year the combined populations of Kimberley and Cranbrook will see this magazine. Wouldn’t it be great if they were looking at your business too? Our new directory format gives each ad enough space to stand out and ensures that your business has a consistent presence in each issue for the entire year. Our design team will help build it, and the price will probably surprise you. Send us an email or give us a call to find out more.

April

APR 8-9 | Spring Splash | Pond Skim Challenge & Dummy Dunhill | Bands | Kimberley Alpine Resort

APR 9 | Easter Egg Hunt | Fort Steel Heritage Town | TBA

APR 14-15 | Bike Swap | Benefits Kootenay Freewheelers | Marysville Arena

APR 15 | Symphony of the Kootenays and Selkirk High School Choir — Celebration of the Sunrise | Key City Theatre | 7:30 pm

APR 16 | Cox and McRae with Opener Larsen & Askey | Key City Theatre | 7 pm

APR 19 | Sansei: The Storyteller — Mark Kunji Ikeda | Key City Theatre 7:30 pm

APR 20 | Hotel California: A Tribute to the Eagles | Key City Theatre 7:30 pm

APR 22-23 | Cranbrook Archery Club Spring 3D Shoot | TBA

APR 22 | Big Horn Comedy with Sarah Stupar, Jarrett Campbell, & Brittany Lyseng | Wildsight Fundraiser to Save the Bighorn Sheep | Key City Theatre | 8 pm