The wait is over: Sunfest back in the live music business
Sunfest is returning to live, in-person shows with a series of five concerts.
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Sunfest is returning to live, in-person shows with a series of five concerts.
The series kicks off March 24 with a performance by Quebec’s Genticorum, the Juno-nominated trio known for their contemporary North American and European folk music. The show, in co-operation with Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club, will be held at Chaucer’s Pub, at 122 Carling St.
The band has released six albums during the last 18 years and has won four Canadian Folk Music Awards.
“We’re so excited,” said Alfredo Caxaj, founder and co-artistic director of TD Sunfest that will return to Victoria Park July 7 to 10.
“There’s nothing better than live music. We’ve been connecting with people virtually throughout the pandemic and trying to support all these artists, but this is the moment we – the artists and the audiences – have all been waiting for. When it’s not live, it’s hard to experience that same level of energy and excitement.”
Other shows in the series, all in co-operation with Wolf Performance Hall, include:
April 2: OKAN, the female-led ensemble (Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne) that fuses rich Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms. The group won the 2021 Juno world music award for their album Espiral.
April 28: A two-time Juno nominee, R&B and soul artist Tanika Charles was twice long-listed for a Polaris Music Prize. Both of her albums, 2016’s Soul Run and 2019’s Gumption, were acclaimed by critics and her latest album, Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly (moth), is to be released in early April.
May 14: The East Los Angeles Afro-Mexican bridge builders Las Cafeteras, who headlined TD Sunfest at Victoria Park in 2018, return with their politically inspired music aimed at building bridges between cultures and communities.
May 19: Twin Flames, the husband and wife duo Chelsey June and Jaajiare, are part of an Indigenous renaissance and are two-time Canadian Folk Music Award recipients and three-time Native American Music Award winners based in Ottawa, who perform in English, French and Inuktitut.
Despite the live offerings, Sunfest also announced another two-day Culturas 360 virtual festival March 26 and 27 featuring 17 acts from around the world.
Visit the website sunfest.on.ca for more information or to purchase tickets.
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