In its third year, Pentictonsa国际传媒檚 Ignite the Arts is bigger than ever before with events packed into each of the last 10 days of March.

From the popular Parade for No Reason, to three days of music and performances, the festival will close out the month in style.

On top of the events that start on March 22, the Penticton Art Gallery has two exhibitions opening during the festival. One will explore mental health and the other will take a look at Canadasa国际传媒檚 medical assistance in dying program.

sa国际传媒淲e have may have taken on more than we should have, but it is what it is and we have no other choice but to see it across the finish line,sa国际传媒� said Penticton Art Gallery curator Paul Crawford.

sa国际传媒淚n terms of our performing artists, we have a list and itsa国际传媒檚 up to about 75 individuals now.sa国际传媒�

As before, the festival will kick off with the unveiling of the mini-mural project at Cannery Brewing on March 22, which will be followed by a week of activities and events at the gallery and across town with local partners.

sa国际传媒淭he whole festival was originally conceived as an extension of our spring exhibition program, and just looking at expanding it and working with other community partners to create deeper opportunities for engagement in the arts in our community.sa国际传媒�

Those partnerships include individual local artists and businesses, as well as organizations like the South Okanagan Immigrant Community Services.

The growth of those community partnerships is fueled in part by those who participated or heard about previous festivals.

One example of the communitysa国际传媒檚 involvement in setting up an event is on March 23, when the Community Art Walk presents Sculpture Day. This yearsa国际传媒檚 version features Canadian ice sculptor Aaron Grant, who will be making a custom piece for the festival.

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 all Renee Matheson,sa国际传媒� said Crawford. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 a perfect example of somebody that has a passion that they want to pursue and are going for it.sa国际传媒�

Crawford also pointed to another local who will be part of the surprises in the Parade for No Reason, set for March 29.

sa国际传媒淎t one of our community meetings he came up to me and wanted to get involved,sa国际传媒� said Crawford. sa国际传媒淗is passion is puppets, he had never done them before, but he wanted to get into making them, so he got together a puppet brigade for the Parade for No Reason.sa国际传媒�

Another new stage this year is the Legacy Den on Main Street, which will be hosting the festivalsa国际传媒檚 new electro-acoustic stage.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 kind of on the other end of the spectrum of electronic music, more sound art and not necessarily about getting you dancing, sa国际传媒� said Julie Fowler, the festival co-coordinator. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 definitely not our specialty, but itsa国际传媒檚 cool to bring in that element.sa国际传媒�

Look to the Penticton Western Newssa国际传媒� March 29 print edition for a breakdown of the main festival weekendsa国际传媒檚 events. A complete schedule including Community Week is available online at