In celebration of Canada’s 150th, our land, and its people, the annual Harrison Festival of the Arts has a very strong Canadian lineup this year.
The 39th Harrison Festival of the Arts runs July 8-16 and a great representation of artists from across the country, and from a range of cultural communities from coast to coast to coast will be here to perform.
“The Harrison Festival has always aimed to have a lineup that includes mostly Canadian performers, alongside international representation,” says artistic director, Andy Hillhouse. “This year is particularly Canadian in focus. Our hall show lineup this year is entirely Canadian, which is unusual. Artists are coming to the festival from the breadth of Canada, from north, south, east, and west.”
The festival will have a strong B.C. orientation, including Vancouver roots music performers Buckman Coe, Coco Jafro, Cuban-Nigerian fusion Kokoma, and Ukrainian-Canadian group Zeellia.
Performing in the Memorial Hall on Sunday, July 16 will be West African guitarist Alpha Yaya Diallo, who played at Harrison Festival on his first tour to B.C. from Guinea in the 1980s.
Other B.C. performers in the Memorial Hall include renowned guitarist/songwriter Stephen Fearing from Victoria, Juno winning husband and wife old-time duo Pharis and Jason Romero from Horsefly B.C., and silver-voiced Cuban singer Adonis Puentes, who will be performing with his Voice of Cuba Orchestra on Friday, July 14. This latter performance should be quite special, as it will include Adonis’s father Valentin Puentes, who is a well known musician in Cuba, and will be visiting especially for this performance.
The Canadian program reaches well beyond B.C. Two aboriginal Yukon-based performers, singer songwriter Diyet and Gwitch’in fiddler Boyd Benjamin, will bring sounds of the north, while east coast musicians Coig, from Cape Breton, and powerhouse folk rock group Hillsburn, from Halifax, will take listeners to the other side of the country.
In the hall Saturday, July 15, the spectacular Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra represents the playful, cosmopolitan spirit of Montreal, and traditional fiddle/guitar duo Yann Falquet and Pascal Gemme will delve into more rural traditional Quebecois music, played sweetly and tastefully.
From the prairies, Alberta-born aboriginal creative cellist Cris Derksen combines grooves and loops with plains dancing in a fusion of the traditional and contemporary, and The Small Glories from Winnipeg bring trad folk sensibilities and a rock energy together in a small but powerful package.
Finally, we can’t forget the great musical metropolis of Toronto, which brings us Columbian/Canadian artist Beny Esguerra and New Tradition, as well as one of the most recognizable names of this year’s lineup, blues artist Colin Linden.
For a look at the full festival lineup and schedule, visit harrisonfestival.com.
Tickets can be purchased at harrisonfestival.com, or by phone at 604-796-3664.
