Looking for one last festival fix before the end of summer? TO Live has you covered!
This weekend, TO Live is presenting the inaugural UpFRONT Festival of Indigenous Arts, Music and Culture, a jam-packed weekend-long celebration of Indigenous talent from across Turtle Island and beyond, right in the heart of Toronto – or, Tkaronto, as the Mohawk peoples originally named the beloved city.
The UpFRONT Festival is running from Sept. 13-15, filling St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and Meridian Hall with three days of extraordinary music, comedy, puppetry, free workshops, and much more. The festival was created in collaboration with acclaimed curators of TKMF Productions, including Cynthia Lickers-Sage, Candace Scott-Moore and Conor McSweeny.
Taking place only weeks ahead of the annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, the UpFRONT Festival will recognize unique and self-defining individuals and traditions from Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. Through a range of participation opportunities, like live performances and interactive visual arts engagements like adding designs on a graffiti wall, the festival offers an accessible and welcoming space for audiences of all ages and backgrounds while highlighting the wide variety of artistic practices central to Indigenous cultures.
Festival passes for the weekend are available for $100, but individual day passes and tickets are also available, ranging between $15 to $60.
Keep reading to find out what’s happening throughout the weekend at UpFRONT.
Friday, Sept. 13
The UpFRONT festival weekend kicks off with a water walk, a sacred Indigenous ceremony that upholds cultural traditions and emphasizes environmental stewardship, immersive education and interconnectedness through water, the cornerstone of all life, at the centre.
On opening night at 5 p.m., Grandmother Kim Wheatley will commence the water walk at Canada Square at Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West) and travel to Meridian Hall and St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on Front Street, the city’s original shoreline and the embodiment of the festival’s name, UpFRONT Festival. The meaningful ceremony intentionally takes this path, connecting the present urban landscape with ancestral waters that have shaped Indigenous lives for centuries.
After the walk, attendees will gather in the Meridian Hall lobby for a free celebration from 6 to 8 p.m., featuring good vibes from DJ KIMIWAN and delicious eats catered by Dashmaawaan Bemaadzinjin (They Feed the People).
Saturday, Sept. 14.
Day two of UpFRONT shows no signs of slowing down the excitement, with festivities beginning bright and early on Saturday morning.
From 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., attendees can indulge in A FREE Artisan Marketplace, showcasing the remarkable craftsmanship of Indigenous artists.
The National Theatre of Greenland will take the Jane Mallett Theatre stage as the first show of the day at 1 p.m., presenting cultural performances by students of Nunatta Isiginnaartitsinermik Ilinniarfia (The Greenlandic National School of Performing Arts). The students will put on an unforgettable performance, featuring acting, drum and mask dances, storytelling, and an Inuit oil lamp tradition called qulleq-lighting.
At 3 p.m., Métis singer Amanda Rheaume will bring her rootsy, guitar-driven ballads to UpFRONT. The Canadian Folk Music Award winner has released five full-length albums over a period of 15 years, and festival-goers can anticipate her touching, earthly sound and stories of resistance and resilience on the festival stage.
Two-spirit Mohawk singer-songwriter Shawnee Kish is putting on a special performance at 5:30 p.m. Attendees can anticipate a night filled with music, dance and a vibrant display of creativity as the Juno Award-nominated star showcases soulful melodies and powerful storytelling.
Tickets for all of the events mentioned above are on sale for $25.
Drezus hits the Bluma Appel Theatre stage at 7 p.m., with opening act Semiah Smith. Drezus is an Anishinaabe/Nehiyaw hip-hop artist and songwriter hailing from Calgary, Alberta. Early influences like Ice Cube, Nas, and LL Cool J inspired the award-winning entertainer, prompting him to develop a style unlike any other, with stories that could only come from an urban native from the prairies. He has also shared the stage with major artists like Drake, the Black Eyed Peas, 50 Cent, Redbone, and Mobb Deep.
Trail-blazing opener Semiah Smith is a songwriter, producer, and multidisciplinary artist, who effortlessly displays a range of emotions through her versatile writing style. Her unique sound pays homage to her traditional Haudenosaunee heritage, as she blurs the lines of genres through combining R&B, electronic, hip-hop, Indigenous vocal techniques, post-punk, and dream pop.
Tickets for Drezus and Semiah Smith are $35.
The final act of this fully-loaded festival day is Tkaronto Stand Up Allstars at 10 p.m., closing out the night with laughs from three of Canada’s brightest standup comedy stars representing diverse nations and identities. Featuring Métis Toronto-based Isabel Zaw-Tun, L’nuk and Scottish Meg MacKay and Winnipeg-based Cree Métis Sasha Mark, the room is guaranteed to be bursting with laughter and connectedness through a night of stories about parenthood, growing up queer, and the unique perspectives of life as urban Indigenous artists. Tickets for this event are $20.
Sunday, Sept. 15
The final day of UpFRONT starts once again with the Artisan Marketplace at 11 a.m., but be sure to visit early, as it closes at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Rabbit and Bear Paws is a puppet show coming to the Jane Mallett Theatre stage at 1 p.m. The comical show spotlights the adventures of a First Nation member, Chad Solomon, as a child when he would visit his late grandparents. During visits, he and his siblings would spend time playing with his grandfather and go tobogganing as a family. The hilariously heartfelt story is meant to remind the audience that no matter how old you become, you should always be young at heart and that laughter is the greatest medicine. Tickets for this event are $15.
At 3:30 p.m., all-Indigenous improv troupe Tonto’s Nephews reunites for a special performance at UpFRONT. Born out of the gritty comedy clubs in Toronto, this troupe of professional artists has toured around North America performing their brand of comedy from Thunder Bay, Vancouver, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. Visitors can grab tickets for this show for $20.
To close out the weekend of remarkable festivities is none other than William Prince in concert at 5 p.m., on the Bluma Appel Theatre stage. From national network television appearances and performances at major international festivals, the Juno Award winner has become one of the country’s most respected singers and celebrated through his skillful simplicity in songwriting.
Internationally respected Indigenous cellist and composer Cris Derksen will be opening for Prince. Performing for symphonies and chamber orchestras across Canada, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Derksen’s composition strength lies in her diversity for all artistic fields including dance, theatre, fashion, and podcasts, among others.
Tickets for William Prince and Cris Derksen are on sale for $40.
To purchase festival passes and individual tickets to UpFRONT Festival of Indigenous Arts, Music and Culture, click here.
