Westben is situated in a robust farming communtiy, but selling the family farm is often a reality.  Westben is on a 50 acre farm and the West family were the original settlers and lived there until 1965. Many houses in the area were built with the brick making machine that still sits in the corner field at Westben.  I'm sure when Gerald West's widow had to sell the farm, it couldn't have been easy.  However, new dreams have risen from these fields and Westben is visited by artists from across Canada and the USA and Europe. 

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Westben Arts Festival Theatre in southern Ontario Canada http://www.westben.ca presents over 40 classical, broadway and jazz events in a 400 seat timber framed barn - purpose built barn for concerts and opera. As professional performers, my husband Brian Finley and myself Donna Bennett are cofounders and we wanted to have the audience experience world class music in an enviroment that is welcoming and not intimidating. The artists perform to the level as they would in any major concert hall (ie opera Gerald Finley sang last month at The MET) but the barn doors roll open so the audience can take in the fields and nature of the 50 acre farm. The nature is part of the experience. The openess is conceived to be welcoming and hopefully attracting younger audiences. We also involve people of all ages, where possible in productions, so they get immersed and feel part of the creative process. We are presenting a world premiere opera this summer by Canadian composer John Burge, called The Auction and we have area professional visual artists building scarecrows with area groups of children (4 H, Girl Guides, choruses etc). Building Scarecrows are part of the story of the opera but the event is to involve the children and artists, telling their story in the building of the scarecrow but also learning about how a new creative work comes together.