Westfest
Encyclopedia
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, that takes place every year during the second weekend of June and is billed as a three day celebration of Canadian art and culture. The festival takes place in Ottawa’s Westboro Village and features a variety of artistic disciplines, including music, contemporary dance, visual art, media art, performance art, spoken word, poetry and fiction readings, Aboriginal art forms, children’s entertainment. At one end of this street enclosure is the Domicile main stage, where the festival's music acts perform. Past headliners have included Buffy Saint-Marie, Sloan
Sloan
Sloan may refer to:*MIT Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts*Sloan, a Canadian rock band*Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a major astronomical survey...
, Joel Plaskett
Joel Plaskett
Joel Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now resides across the harbour in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia...
, Jane Siberry, Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band. The group was formed in Toronto in 1985 by Margo Timmins , Michael Timmins , Peter Timmins and Alan Anton ....
, Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2003 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates".- Personal life :...
among others.
Westfest will take place in 2011 on June 10, 11, and 12 and will feature performances by Lucie Idlout
Lucie Idlout
Lucie Idlout is a Canadian rock singer.An Inuk from Iqaluit, Nunavut, she is the daughter of Leah Idlout d'Argencourt and granddaughter of Joseph Idlout, an Inuk hunter who was the subject of a National Film Board documentary, Between Two Worlds, in 1990 and was one of the Inuit hunters depicted...
, Bif Naked
Bif Naked
Bif Naked is a Juno Award-winning, Indian-born American-Canadian multi-platinum record selling, rock singer, writer, poet, motivational speaker and actress.-Personal life:...
, and the Mighty Popo. This year, the Westfest main stage will be behind the Real Canadian Superstore parking lot, a move that will quadruple the audience area.
Westfest’s programming is 100% Canadian and 100% accessible; and since the beginning, admission to Westfest has been free to anyone wishing to attend. Westfest is also 100% inclusive and participating artists have come from all over Canada; from every province and territory, including Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
.
History
Founder, Producer, and Artistic Director Elaina Martin began Westfest in 2004 and in its first year the festival was a one day, three block, event that featured twelve hours of programming. The inaugural Westfest was a huge success. Headlined by Jane Siberry, the festival had more than 20,000 people in attendance throughout the day, and 5,000 at the main stage concert alone. One year later, in 2005, Westfest became a two day festival. In 2006, Westfest was incorporated as a national not for profit organization and by 2007, became a three day festival with extensive programming. In 2008, Westfest celebrated its fifth year anniversary with a five day event and more than 100 hours of programming, drawing in record breaking crowds, exceeding 100,000 people, to the festival’s grounds.Westfest's Misson
- To promote the development and work of Canadian established, mid-career, and emerging contemporary artists
- To foster a sense of community by providing an arts festival that is free and accessible to everyone, that encourages a diverse and inclusive audience and that provides a supportive, meaningful context in which to learn about artistic activity
- To increase project collaboration and liaise between artists, arts organizations, businesses, communities, and other festivals
- To foster collaboration between artists by scheduling activities that includes numerous artistic disciplines: music, fiction and poetry readings, spoken word, visual art, contemporary dance, theatre, Aboriginal art forms, performance art, media art, and many others
- To demonstrate leadership in issues related to multidisciplinary arts events and festivals in Canada.