Under The Volcano Festival Of Art & Social Change was an activist, grassroots gathering held at Whey-Ah-Wichen Cates Park on the traditional territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in North Vancouver

North Vancouver, British Columbia (district municipality)

The District of North Vancouver is a district municipality in British Columbia and is part of the GVRD. It surrounds the City of North Vancouver on three sides.-Geography:The District of North Vancouver is separated from Vancouver by Burrard Inlet...

, BC

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 in August. Under the Volcano was Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

's largest political arts festival and was 100% volunteer produced. The festival took its name from the well-known book of the same name by Malcolm Lowry

Malcolm Lowry

Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...

, who squat

Squatting

Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....

ted in Cates Park in the 1940s.

The festival was started in 1990 by Vancouver social activist and artist Irwin Oostindie, and was produced by a dedicated group of volunteers until its 20th anniversary, in 2010. UTV featured a number of high profile activists and entertainers in its 20 years of existence, including: Ward Churchill

Ward Churchill

Ward LeRoy Churchill is an author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1990 to 2007. The primary focus of his work is on the historical treatment of political dissenters and Native Americans by the United States government...

, Faith Nolan

Faith Nolan

Faith Nolan is a Canadian social activist folk and jazz singer-songwriter and guitarist of mixed African, Mi'kmaq and Irish heritage...

, Kinnie Starr

Kinnie Starr

Alida Kinnie Starr Pierre is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Calgary, Alberta. Her music, which blends hip hop and alternative rock, has been described as "hip hop aggro groove". Her songs have been included on the soundtracks for the TV series The L Word and the movie Thirteen...

, Paint

Paint (band)

Paint is a Canadian indie rock band based in Toronto. Paint has released two full-length studio albums, with their latest effort Can You Hear Me? released in 2009.-History:Paint formed in Vancouver in 2001...

, Kathleen Yearwood

Kathleen Yearwood

Kathleen Yearwood is a Canadian experimental singer-songwriter and author, born in 1958.From Subterranean Records description of Kathleen Yearwood:...

, Aztlan Underground

Aztlan Underground

Aztlan Underground is a fusion band from Los Angeles. Since early 1989, Aztlan Underground has played Rapcore. Indigenous drums, flutes, and rattles are commonplace in its musical compositions....

, Tegan & Sara, Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein is a Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization.-Family:...

 and Lourdes Perez

Lourdes Pérez

Lourdes Pérez is a prolific Puerto Rican contemporary recording artist, songwriter, composer, arranger, poet, contralto vocalist and guitarist. She is also one of few female décimistas...

.

Under the Volcano celebrated its last festival on August 8, 2010