The scene was like something out of a Tim Burton-Johnny Depp movie, a kaleidoscope of colour, taste and sound one might associate with a sort of surreal cultural circus.

The festival offered opportunity to ride seated 14-feet off the ground on a solar tricycle; to model the traditional garb of countries large and small; to treat the taste buds to such fare as dinkum meat chili.

And, as it has since Jim and Ilze Booth organized their first international soiree six years ago, it opened eyes, minds and hearts to mental illness – how pervasive it is, how much more needs to be done for diagnosis and treatment and how few people, if any, go through life untouched by it.

In just a few years, the festival has grown to become the largest private fundraiser for the Mood Disorders Association.

“It was magic,” said Jim Booth.

“The event has traction now.”

The Booths launched the international festival as a way of combining and sharing two of their biggest passions: world cultures and fundraising for mood disorders.

For 30 years, the couple has made their sojourns to the far reaches of the world a priority; exploring remote villages by bicycle, climbing mountains hand-in-hand, learning from the kindness of strangers who offer their homes and hospitality along the way. As far as the Booths are concerned, it’s the only way to see, to learn about, the world and its diverse inhabitants.

Married 43 years, the Booths are intimately familiar with mood disorders. Jim Booth received his introduction to depression at age 12, when his older sister, on just her fourth day of high school, didn’t come home after class. After a night of searching, 13-year-old Cherry – who, at age seven, sat down and played Moonlight Sonata by ear without ever having had a piano lesson – was found the next day, confused and “mentally lost.”

At the time, long before depression was a recognized illness, she was deemed to have had a nervous breakdown. She was institutionalized for 10 years, then went on to earn a science degree and become head psychiatric nurse at that very institution.

It’s been 50 years since Cherry was “lost,” and there has been progress in the recognition of mental illness and its treatment, most of it in the past decade.

But there’s still a long way to go, said Booth, whose ultimate dream is to establish three mood-disorder support groups for every 50,000 people. Each trio would include a specific group for youth, a time of life when mental illness often presents itself, he said.

Festival attendee Rennie Hoffman, the association’s executive director, said such efforts would find more funding and resources if there was more understanding and acceptance of mental illness as the disease it is.

Like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, mental illness demands diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle changes to manage effectively, Hoffman said.

“We don’t accept that for mental illness,” he noted. “People don’t accept it as a legitimate disease.”

Hoffman, who spent 17 years policing Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, agreed with Booth that a critical part of ensuring sufferers lead productive lives is a combination of education and early diagnosis. Children need to learn how to recognize the signs of stress and how to deal with it before it gets out of control.

And society, as a whole, needs to get on board, he said, noting that’s where events such as that held last weekend help the most.

“It makes people more aware... more willing to talk about it.”

More than 100 people attended the festival, organized this year by Booth’s daughter, Maia Scott, and family friend Jade Bourelle, who also opened his South Surrey garden to guests. (The Booths had to take a step back after Jim was diagnosed with cancer in April. He learned Wednesday he’s all-but-clear of the disease.)

Each guest represented a country, wearing traditional clothing and bringing food and drink native to that region. Everyone shouldered the expense of providing the costumes and fare, as well as paid $100 for a ticket.

Booth joked to guests the criteria should have been their first clue the event was a fundraiser for people with mental illness.

This week, he marveled at his guests’ commitment.

Many approached their hosts – some in tears – to share connections to mental illness, and the impact it has had on their lives.

Few are untouched by the issue, Scott noted.

“Every single person there... had some sort of connection to it. It was a very emotional evening.

“That’s why my parents do this. It gets people talking.”

• For more information on the Mood Disorders Association, call 604-873-0103 or e-mail info@mdabc.net