Besides musical performances by artists like DJ NDN and Digging Roots, the festival will also feature cultural workshops and storytelling segments
Even as the news of provinces considering opening up various businesses have been announced, there is still uncertainty about the entertainment industry. The risk that large gatherings carry in current times hint towards the fact that live events and performances might be the last of ventures to receive the green signal. But, if we have learned anything from this distressing situation, it is that online adaptability is the key to survival; even in an uncertain future. Musicians and artists have been embracing this fact and the result has been various web lives aired on platforms like YouTube and Instagram. The indigenous-led organization 50/50 Performing Art Collective is taking this one step further with the announcement of the Tkaronto Music Festival to be held entirely in the web format.
The three-day event originally planned to be held as an outdoor fete, will be streamed on Facebook Live, Youtube Live, and TKMF.ca from May 15th to May 17th. “This is year one of Tkaronto Music Festival, a project that has actually been in the works for two years. Initially, we thought that moving the event until 2021 (because of COVID-19) might be the best course of action. Because people are stuck at home and we know artists from everywhere have been affected by social distancing orders, we thought that debuting online was the perfect option to capture and keep a new audience and put people to work,” says festival spokesperson Ian Maracle, about the celebrations that aim to give artists paid performing opportunities. The roster features Nbiising Anishinaabe figure and former member of A Tribe Called Red DJ NDN (Ian Campeau), Juno-award winning Anishinaabe blues-rock outfit Digging Roots, folk/country singer-songwriter William Prince, and Northwest Territories-based Leela Gilday, to name a few.
The interesting question is, how did the team manage the logistics for an online festival—with musicians hailing from across Canada, from Thunder Bay to Yellowknife—within a short span of time? “Many of the artists currently on the lineup also had a spot in the originally planned live as well. While we didn’t get every artist on our roster, we did keep a good number of them. Collectively we have over 20 years of event and entertainment industry experience, so roping in new artists was not a worrisome task,” informs Ian. The event pairs pre-recorded performances with real-time artist engagement and also has host segments aired live by popular names like Cheri Maracle, Sarain Fox, and Ryan McMahon. “We also have cultural workshops, traditional storytelling segments, and introductions each day with Elders from around the country. We hope that the experience we’ve crafted provides people with a unique cultural experience while also giving audiences something truly special to enjoy over the course of the long weekend,” Ian winds up.