The Dewdney Trunk Road Pleasure Faire was held over three days in September 1971, on land that was designated to become a federal penitentiary in Mission, BC.
All photos by Bruce Stewart
The Deluxe group—Alan Clapp, Dan Clemens, Ian Ridgway and Ray Clark—applied for the permit, and Clemens and Ridgway spent the summer deconstructing barns and designing and building a 60-acre village.
“It was a big arts and crafts faire in the true sense,” says Bruce Stewart, photographer. “Leather works, pottery, candles, stuffed dolls, batiking, paintings, sculptures and an assortment of foods, smokes and grilled oysters.”
“Wending one’s way through the woods one comes upon this startling ‘village’ which Deluxe spent all summer long putting together for the Faire,” says Bruce.
There was also lots of music—and Joni Mitchell.
Zip lines were strung from some of the towers and turrets to provide rides for the kids.
“Terry Lyster supervised the building of a custom dome made from two by fours and his wife Carolyn’s tie-dyes and batiks,” says Bruce.
One barn had been rebuilt to resemble a castle.
For a terrific first-hand account of the Mission Pleasure Faire and the three months of building the village see: A Carpenter’s Tale on Joni Mitchell’s website.
See also: The 1972 Dollarton Pleasure Faire
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