21st Annual Backcountry Film Festival

OVERVIEW:

It's that time of year again to join for the 21st Annual Backcountry Film Festival! Grab your skis and backcountry buddies, and help underserved youth in our community get unplugged and connected to winter wildlands by attending this event for a great cause!

SOLE is hosting this all-ages event at the historic in downtown Sandpoint, Idaho, to unite the community around outdoor adventure and positive youth impact. The festival inspires winter explorers, raises vital funds, and highlights SOLE's SnowSchool Experience Program, which has provided over 36,000 hours of outdoor education to more than 4,800 underserved rural youth over the past 14 winters.

The Backcountry Film Festival is produced by our partners, Boise-based nonprofit Winter Wildlands. The world premiere is in Boise, Idaho. The festival then tours to more than 100 showings around the world, including right here in Sandpoint, Idaho! Enjoy award-winning and juried films that celebrate human-powered experiences. There’s also a Holiday Silent Auction with gifts from local vendors, artisans, and businesses, along with gear vendors, raffle prizes, great brews, and special surprises. This family-fun event is a cause worth supporting!

ALL event proceeds support SOLE’s SnowSchool Experience Program, which was recently honored as a National SnowSchool Flagship Site for its place-based experiential curriculum. The current curriculum offers a comprehensive watershed study, including snow science, winter ecology, conservation literacy, avalanche education, and outdoor living and travel skills.

Your support helps SOLE empower 600 underrepresented rural youth this winter, providing them opportunities to explore, achieve, and lead in our winter wildlands.

With over 50% of participants living in poverty and 70% experiencing snowshoeing for the first time, SOLE’s needs are significant. Join us to get excited for winter and do some good! SOLE offers comprehensive SnowSchool Experiences for all 5th graders in the Lake Pend Oreille School District and aims to expand offerings for elementary through high school students across north Idaho counties, partnering with public, private, and homeschool groups throughout the Inland Northwest. These efforts and the need for community support will be highlighted during this year’s event.

Each year, local schools experience SOLE's SnowSchool because of festival patron support. Without this support, many youths would lack access to these experiential education programs. Last year, over 70% of participants said snowshoeing was new to them, and over 80% reported a positive educational experience. Needless to say, supporting youth access to winter wildlands is a valuable cause.

Additional Info on SOLE’s SnowSchool Experience Program:

The Backcountry Film Festival is renowned for its mix of professional and grassroots films – from well-known filmmakers who search backcountry corners across the globe to submit their best work. Funds raised stay in local communities to support like-minded, human-powered recreation and conservation efforts and to raise awareness of winter management issues, avalanche training/safety, and winter education programs. Come take the ride and support a great cause while doing so!

THE LINE-UP (Coming SOON!): Read descriptions of each film at:

TICKET LEVELS:

• Donation Ticket - $30 (ADV and DOS) - Provides (1) local youth a FREE 3-day SnowSchool Program! Includes entry into the event and (3) Raffle Tickets for our “Rockin’ Raffle”
• General Admission | ADV - $15 - Does not include ANY Raffle Tickets.
• Youth Ticket | ADV - $10 - Does not include ANY Raffle Tickets. 17 and under.
• General Admission | DOS - $20 - Does not include ANY Raffle Tickets
• Youth Ticket | DOS - $15 - Does not include ANY Raffle Tickets. 17 and under.
• Raffle Tickets - (1) for $3, (3) for $5, (5) for $10.
• Schweitzer Ski Chair Raffle - (1) for $25, (5) for $100

SCHEDULE:

Doors open at 6:00 PM. Intro and first film reel from 7:00 to 8:15 PM, intermission from 8:15 to 8:45 PM, second reel from 8:45 to 9:45 PM, with closing remarks around 10:00 PM. All times are estimates based on the previous year's film festival.

CAN'T GO? Make a donation today by visiting:

Over 50% of participants live in poverty, and 70% experience snowshoeing and winter wildlands for the first time through this program—demonstrating a significant need for support!

EVENT | PROGRAM SPONSORSHIP:

Let’s face it – there is no better way to showcase your business or organization than to become a Backcountry Film Festival or SnowSchool Experience Program Sponsor!

Intentional programming of this magnitude is downright expensive, as is hosting fundraising events like the Backcountry Film Festival. As such, SOLE offers several sponsorship options to ensure that we can funnel event proceeds directly towards program expenses, providing these transformational experiential programs for our local area youth. As a result of your support, we are able to unplug and reconnect more local area youth to the outdoors to explore > achieve > lead!

Corporations, businesses, and individuals can also sponsor a specific student, class, school, youth program, or entire SnowSchool Experience Field Campus by providing in-kind and/or financial support! This allows you to benefit from doing good for our youth while gaining exposure for your business!

To learn more or become an Event or Program Sponsor, contact our board of directors at: [email protected].

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Panida Theater, 300 North 1st Avenue, Sandpoint, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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