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In March 1977 Robert Filberg died. By his will he left all of his property at 61 Filberg Road in Comox to the Vancouver Foundation. He also, by his will gave 11 million dollars to the Vancouver Foundation. The annual interest on this money created the Robert and Florence Filberg Fund and the Robert Filberg General Fund. These monies are distributed annually as grants under the guidelines established by the Vancouver Foundation.
In 1977, then Alderman Alice Bullen presented a motion to Comox Town Council that the Town contact the Vancouver Foundation about the possibility of acquiring the Filberg property.

A letter from Alderman Bullen to all of the Comox Valley service clubs invited them to submit a brief suggesting uses of this property, if it became a public facility. Fourteen briefs were submitted, many suggesting art show, craft festival- gardening shows etc. These briefs were forwarded to the Vancouver Foundation. The Vancouver Foundation proposed terms and conditions whereby the Town of Comox would receive grants from the Robert and Florence Filberg Fund to purchase and restore the 9 acre Filberg property.

A Filberg property management committee was appointed to submit to the Comox Town Council recommendations for the formation of a society together with proposed bylaws and constitution. In 1978 the Filberg Lodge and Park Association was born. The Town of Comox would be responsible for the 9 acre grounds, much of which was covered in heritage trees and flower gardens, and the Association would be responsible for the care, maintenance and restoration of the Lodge as well as the numerous outbuildings contained on the property.
It became apparent early on that this endeavor was going to require some money. Thus began numerous ongoing fundraising initiatives, the largest and most lucrative being the Filberg Festival. The first Festival was held in 1983 and grossed $3804.00 after expenses.
In the first year of the Festival, there were sixteen craft booths set up on the Filberg property, as well as some roving entertainment and a lemonade stand. Admission was $2.00 for adults and $1.00 for children. While things have certainly grown over the last 30 years, the Filberg Festival still has a community feel and is a wonderful celebration of the arts. Over the years the Festival has become larger and more professional, thanks to the efforts of many people. Much of the credit for the festival's success belongs to the hundreds of diligent volunteers (in 2012, there were approximately 300 volunteers) who have helped over the past three decades. Without their commitment, enthusiasm and energy the festival would have ceased to exist long ago.
Looking forward, we anticipate many more years for the Filberg Festival. It will continue to grow and evolve and in so doing provide much needed capital to enable the FHLPA to maintain the beautiful piece of Comox Valley history for the community and future generations.