By Jamie Bowman
Special to Black Press
Look at any events listings, any poster wall in the Comox Valley. It鈥檚 clear: Cumberland has developed huge cultural capital.
Avigdor (a.k.a. Vig) Schulman has been laying brick after brick in that foundation for decades. And next up in the cultural calendar of events that have his touch: Cumberland Wild, Aug. 19-20.
Cumberland Village Works started small, but a big idea and the guts to pull off a major event happen really changed village history.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been a musician and presenter,鈥� says Schulman. 鈥淚 was the guy in high school arranging events.鈥�
That was in Cornwall, Ontario, near the Quebec border.
But it was the influences of big cities that helped create what Cumberland has become via Vig. He studied music and social research at New York University, where he got involved in music and festival culture there.
Then came a stint in Australia, working on Big Day Up, a one-day festival that toured the continent鈥檚 major cities.
鈥淚 liked the name and I kept it in the back of my mind,鈥� he says. Later, it would resurface. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥榟ow about a Big Time Out?鈥� Imitation is the best form of flattery, I guess.鈥�
More about that later.
When Schulman returned to Canada, he went west and landed on Denman Island, where he took on rebuilding the historic community hall and helped host shows there.
鈥淭hen, about 20 years ago, my friend Cathy Stoyko purchased the Abbey building, to be a dance studio and venue in Cumberland,鈥� he says. 鈥淪he suggested I should come and help her turn, what had been an old church and then a bicycle shop, into a dance studio and venue.鈥�
They renovated it, set up sound gear, and lights and got it ready. Many spirited Cumberland residents joined forces with them and set up the Holy Chicken Society, bringing in eclectic music and performance shows.
鈥淐umberland really embraced that,鈥� Schulman says.
Soon, the bar manager at the nearby Waverley Hotel, Karen Webber, 鈥渘oticed there were more people at the Abbey than there were at her bar,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he convinced her boss, Harvey Brown at the time, that they should hire me. And they did in 2005.鈥�
And thus began the venerable Waverley Hotel鈥檚 modern history, documented by a poster wall filled with so many musical talents that have gone on to fame nationally and internationally. They were here when they were new and fresh.
Always with an ear for new and expressive music, Schulman was 鈥減articularly excited鈥� about some fresh, meaningful music coming out of the US: Michael Franti and Spearhead. He and MusicFest alumna Meg Cursons wondered, 鈥淚s this possible?鈥�
鈥淚 put in a substantial offer, more money than I owned at the time, not really knowing what I would do with it if I got it,鈥� Schuman said. 鈥淚t was really, 鈥極h my God, what have I done now?鈥欌��
But Michael Franti came through and the first Cumberland Village Works (CVW) festival was a smashing success. 鈥淲e thought, 鈥榳e should do that again鈥�.鈥�
And they did. Schulman and his team ran Big Time Out for another six years, before eventually rebranding to Atmosphere Gathering in 2014. Atmosphere later morphed into Cumberland Wild in 2018.
鈥淲e did two years of Cumberland Wild before COVID and we鈥檙e still doing it now,鈥� he said.
Schulman鈥檚 steady flow of music culture has been non-stop since 2003. The festival takes priority in summers, but CVW hosts regular music shows the rest of the year, usually every week or two and most often at the Waverley Hotel.
It鈥檚 been a team effort, of course, backed by mostly volunteers at the festivals, with Schulman in the thick of it all, making it happen. In the past decade, Melissa Roeske and Ben Howells have become co-producers.
The theme running through all those festivals, and the Waverley shows, has been to bring musical styles that were not being featured in this area: 鈥渢one and style, niche, creative, youth-based, dance, live hip-hop, electronic. Before any other events here were doing this, we were exploring new territory.鈥�
Since then other festivals in the Comox Valley have now evolved and now offer more of a blend of different styles.
But Cumberland Village Works led the way and will continue.
鈥淲e love Cumberland,鈥� he says.
