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Currently touring BC's Gulf Islands and Washington State's San Juans, The New Old Time Chautauqua is the only known chautauqua currently in operation, and certainly the only floating one. (Much of the cast travels by boat.) Chautauquas, named for the upstate New York lakeside community where they originated in the late 19th century, reached their peak of popularity in the 1920s, bringing entertainment, culture, and moral edification to out-of-the-way places throughout North America.

This one is strictly secular, but, with its mix of music, clowning, and acts of derring-do, not to mention pre-show workshops in mask-making, solar water heating and the like, retains the mix of fun and betterment that made these events more than just a travelling circus. They were "edutainment" before there was such a thing. When I heard that the "aqua chautauqua" was coming to my own out-of-the-way place, Gabriola Island, I knew I had to be there. Below is my pictorial record of their two day visit. May they float back our way, and towards yours, soon.

- Frank Moher