We did the math: four days, five venues, 25 bands. That’s big. And it’s going to be fun. Big Fun – which takes its name from the fictional band in the ‘89 cult hit film, Heathers – is gearing up for its inaugural run in art galleries, lofts, and warehouse spaces in the heart of the Exchange District and surrounding areas.
Hoping to create a new event experience, Big Fun’s team of five organizers have taken inspiration by Canadian festivals like North by Northeast in Toronto and Pop Montreal, where one of the organizers had previously volunteered.
Running January 26 to 29, the line-up features a diverse range of local talent including surf noir trio This Hisses, hip hop acts The Lytics , Rebel Yell, and Pip Skid, folk trio Bog River, and indie outfits Ultra Mega and Departures, post-rock band Viridians, and more. Click here to check out the full line-up.
Effective July 1, Festival Distribution will cease to be... at least in the way we're used to it being. The Vancouver-based company, which has been around since '80s, will move its physical distribution to Outside Music and continue on in a online-only capacity. Outside will take over sales and servicing of all Festival-distributed music and Festival will close down its warehouse at the end of August.
A respected FACTOR-recognized distributor, Festival has been home primarily to folk and roots, jazz, world, and blues recordings. Perusing the distributors "top titles" section on its website, you'll find the likes of Ani Difranco, The Wailin' Jennys, James Keelaghan, Tanya Tagaq, Alpha Yaya Diallo, and Shooglenify.
"The alliance with Outside Music is ideal for Festival and we are happy to be working with them,” said Festival Distribution president, Jack Schuller, in today's press release. “Lloyd Nishimura and his team have always been formidable competition. They operate an honest, hardworking and efficient business."
Schuller continued to explain that while Outside will handle the physical side of sales, Festival will concentrate on digital sales and its relationship...
Jazz Winnipeg knows how to announce a festival lineup. With the Fairmont lounge as the setting, Heineken as the sponsor and Winnipeg's Neil Watson Trio as the entertainment, Friday's announcement was a well attended affair.
Dan Michaels from Groove FM was on hand to bring greetings from the title sponsor, and to preempt cynicism about the station's commitment to jazz with their change in format from a jazz station to a smooth jazz adult contemporary format - "Cool" is now "Groove".
The Festival lineup features some notable tweaks and changes to the format, some fantastic touring acts and lots of great local talent. The event will wrap-up with the outdoor market square concerts again this year - it used to open with this event - but will end Sunday night instead of continuing on to the holiday Monday.
The biggest change to this year's festival is that the nightly club programming has been distilled down to five venues. The usual Pyramid Cabaret contemporary music series and the Windsor Hotel blues series are joined by Roots programming at the Times Changed. This is cool - if the Times is going to have music on that weekend anyway, might as well make it part of the...
