Harvesting The Arts Festival

Sep 21-24, 2005
"A great city is one that buzzes with energy, one that is full of innovative people doing big things." - Building up - Making Canada's cities magnets for talent and engines for development

Saint John has talent, and during the final days of summer, creativity will explode from all corners of Uptown Saint John. From Wednesday, September 21st to Saturday, September 24th, multiple events hosted by various arts and cultural groups will take place as part of the city’s inaugural Harvesting the Arts Festival. The festival is being coordinated by the Fusion Arts and Culture and Fusion’s International committee to bring together and highlight multiple events in the city promoting arts & culture in Saint John.

Beginning Wednesday evening September 21st, Hit Media will release its film “Rubarbicon” and “My First Kiss” as a kickoff to the Continental Drift Film Festival. A screening party at Tapps will follow featuring Grand Theft Bus.

On Thursday, September 22nd, Tapps Brewpub will feature an evening show with bands “The Delegates" and "Down on Bedford" produced by Medusa Promotions.

Friday September 23rd the New Brunswick Museum will host Studio Watch – an Emerging Artist Series exhibition opening in conjunction with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. The Continental Drift International Film Festival will also hold its first evening screening at Saint John High School from 8 – 10 p.m.

On Saturday the 24th starting at 11 a.m., the Market Square Boardwalk will come alive with art, food, crafts, and cultural performances. The 3rd annual Market by the Sea will feature Saint John’s emerging artists and craftspeople as well as multiple food vendors. The Saint John Art Club will showcase their artwork, and various local performers will take to the boardwalk stage. Erin McKay the Saint John Idol, will also hit the stage Saturday afternoon. The Continental Drift International Short Film Festival will hold a matinee performance at 2pm at Kings Square, followed by screenings from 8pm-10pm at Saint John High School.

Local talent on Saturday will include singers Karen Palmer, Craig Lang, Ben Morgan and Pete Bellieveau. Also performing will be Hannah MacDonald, a Latin band and DRIFT. Harvesting the Arts will also feature culturally diverse performances including Chinese, South Asian and Irish dancing. The stage will also be filled with jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop, belly dancers and a drum circle. One unique act will feature the Dog-gone dancers, an entertaining group of dogs and their trainers performing square dancing.

"The Fusion Arts and Culture Committee is joining forces with the Fusion International committee to highlight culturally rich events for the arts," explains Holly McKay, chair of the Fusion Arts and Culture Committee. "It's amazing that we can pull together a festival with events that are already going on in the city with only a few additions. It shows Saint John has vibrant Arts & Culture community. This Festival will give the public an opportunity to explore and enjoy many interactive artistic activities."

Harvesting the Arts Festival will highlight artistic events that feature new and emerging artists and cultural groups in Saint John. Like the name suggests, Saint John has a great crop of talent this year, and for those who attend the festival, they will most definitely reap the rewards of this year’s harvest.

All events will be held within walking distance in the Uptown area. In the event of rain, Saturday’s activities will move inside Market Square.

Contact: Simone Fernandes
Phone: 333-2890.
E-mail: Simone.Fernandes@gnb.ca

Contact: Holly McKay
Phone: 202-2753
E-mail: holly@workinfolkart.com

FUSION Saint John Inc. is a not-for-profit social networking group for young Saint John area residents. We are a dynamic organization trying to make Saint John a better place to live, work and play.