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Reopening Canada: Festivals go online for now, but there's hope for live shows yet

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Reopening Canada is a series of stories on the post-pandemic economic recovery, here and nationwide:

Brett Kissel has been teasing country music lovers over the last few weeks in Alberta and Saskatchewan with a series of sold-out concerts staged in parking lots.

Now the rest of Canada is watching, waiting and wondering when they’ll gather for their first taste of live music and culture this summer, especially festival crowds missing the crush of bodies, sharing of culture, loud music, dancing and fun snuffed out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Reopening Canada is a nationwide Postmedia project
Reopening Canada is a nationwide Postmedia project

June through September is festival season across Southwestern Ontario, with a festival of one kind or another almost every weekend, drawing from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

London’s TD Sunfest, the region’s largest festival with an estimated audience of 110,000 world music fans (some who visit several times over its four-day run), was to be held July 9-12 before it was cancelled.

Organizers, led by founder and artistic director Alfred Caxaj, then pivoted to offer a virtual TD Sunfest featuring 15 national and international acts over two nights, July 10-11, and a platform for arts and crafts vendors.

“No, this is not sustainable for a festival like Sunfest,” said Caxaj, looking to the future.

“Not with people facing all kinds of restrictions on gathering, because this is a festival whose main vision and mission is about bringing people together. I think that’s true for any live music festival. People want to be together.”

Caxaj said the virtual offering is a bid not only to stay connected with world music audiences, but also to recognize the various sponsors and support the artists, who prepared videos for Sunfest, many of whom have no other income.

But he can’t see people returning to festivals until a vaccine for COVID-19 is found.

“With a lot of restrictions, it would be very messy,” said Caxaj.

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“Imagine people lining up for the food, for drinks or the washroom? Until there is a vaccine, it would be very tricky. Still, we might have more ideas on how to cope in the future. I am talking festival organizers every week and we are exchanging ideas. But people want to feel secure and I think that will take a vaccine.”

Other festivals are also pivoting to offer music and other events online this year:

  • The Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County’s 45th annual Carrousel of Nations, which usually sees as many as 200,000 visitors at dozens of cultural clubs over two weekends, instead will offer Carrousel@Home June 26-27. The event will be streamed simultaneously on Facebook Live and Twitch, featuring cultural groups showcasing music and dance, cooking demonstrations and traditional presentations unique to their cultures. Many also will sell ethnic foods for curbside pickup and delivery; and,
  • London’s Home County Music & Art Festival, the city’s longest-running festival established in 1974 and was to run July 17-19. That was cancelled, but organizers are now putting together a virtual festival with details expected in coming days; and,
  • Several Pride festivals across the region are cancelled, but those in London (July 16-26), Windsor (Aug. 22 and 23) and Oxford (June) are hosting online events
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“Absolutely, it’s worth it,” said Pam Mady, an organizer with the Carrousel of Nations.

“It’s about celebrating culture. And maybe this online event will become a permanent part of the festival, especially for those people who can’t get out of their homes.”

Other major festivals cancelled with no online offering include the six-day Bluesfest Windsor, Sarnia’s Bluewater Borderfest and Start.ca Rocks the Park in London, which has drawn upwards of 10,000 on each of its four days at Harris Park.

But all hope is not yet lost for 2020.

There are moves afoot to bring live festivals back in Ontario this year, with one industry expert pointing to Kissel’s success and Ottawa’s RBC Bluesfest, which will offer a pandemic-proof festival bringing artists like Sam Roberts, Patrick Watson and Tim Hicks to a big stage at the nearby Place des Festivals in Gatineau, Que., over two weekends, July 31 to Aug. 1 and Aug. 7-8. A #CanadaPerforms livestream on Facebook will offer the show to music fans at home.

A maximum of 500 cars will be allowed on site at $75 per car. Their occupants will also be allowed to sit in lawn chairs and use washrooms, although it’s uncertain how food and beverages will be handled.

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The London area will get its first taste of drive-in concerts at Purple Hill Country Opry in Thorndale July 10 with a night of with a night of blues eaturing legendary guitarist Bill Durst along with Cheryl Lescom and Tim Woodcock, and the Chris Trowell Band and a  night of country music July 11 with The Good Brothers, Purple Hill Country Show Band and Thorne and Roses with special guests Shelly Rastin and Scott Bollert. For more information or tickets visit the Facebook page for Cruise In Concerts.

“There’s a lot of innovation in the industry occurring right now and I’ve heard a lot of talk about different drive-in concepts, including some that would feature multiple artists over several days at the same location,” said Chris Campbell, founder of the consulting firm, Music Tourism.

“I believe there’s a strong appetite to get as close to a festival experience as they can get and I believe there a lot of opportunity to do this but it’s not the same business model as festivals now follow.”

Campbell said any business model will have to include sponsors with deep pockets to pay much of the freight. He also expects artists will be taking pay cuts and/or other arrangements such as a cut of the gate and merchandise sales.

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“It will be very reliant on sponsorships,” said Campbell. “You put 300 or 500 cars in a space and (at $75 a car), the math doesn’t work. But people are trying to come up with proposals that make sense for everybody involved.”

Key to its success are the lifting of restrictions in provinces like Ontario, which only just shifted to Stage 2 of its gradual economic reopening plan. Even in Stage 3, large public gatherings will still be restricted. Campbell said opportunities in Ontario may open up by late summer or early fall.

Drive-in theatres, racetracks, and even hotel courtyards with guests watching from their rooms are being considered, Campbell said, noting online offerings by festivals are only stopgap.

“There are a lot of concepts being tossed around,” said Campbell, who has heard talk of drive-in events accommodating as many as 700 cars. “But I think it’s the live experience that people are craving now more than anything.”

jbelangetr@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/JoeBatLFPress

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