Northern Lights Festival Boréal (NLFB) setup is well underway, and organizers
are beyond excited to launch the event. “We have a really strong lineup this year
that we are extremely proud of,” says Executive Director Max Merrifield, “We
have a ton of new additions and enhancements to the festival atmosphere.”
Northern Lights Festival Boréal is Canada’s longest consecutively running music
festival, and takes place in Sudbury’s Bell Park each year, on the shores of
beautiful Lake Ramsey. While the event retains its roots as a festival of ‘folk
music’, NLFB presents a wide variety of musical genres including roots, indie,
world and modern styles.
The festival program itself kicks off on Friday evening, with Tokyo Police Club
headlining. This year, however, festival organizers have joined with local club
SRO in order to present a special festival kick-off party with party-funk
superband Five Alarm Funk on Thursday the 3rd. Festival pass holders get
discounted entry to this special event. “Five Alarm Funk is one of my favourite
bands,” says SRO owner Maher Khalil, “If you like to celebrate and occasionally
dance at the festival, then you will LOVE Five Alarm Funk.”
Saturday night of the festival features Canadian musical gem Bruce Cockburn,
who has over 30 albums to his credit and has written such iconic songs as ‘Lovers
in a Dangerous Time’, ‘Wondering Where the Lions Are’ and ‘If a Tree Falls’.
He is a recipient of the Order of Canada for his humanitarian work and his music,
and in early June received an honourary degree from Sudbury’s Laurentian
University.
Also appearing Saturday night is The Melbourne Ska Orchestra, a whopping 24
piece band playing Jamaican ska music. Ska is the Jamaican form of dance music
that eventually gave birth to reggae, but has continued to evolve in many ways on
its own. After receiving rave reviews at the Montréal Jazz Festival, the MSO
heads to Sudbury to make festival goers twist and shake with their massive sound.
“Our mandate involves honouring and supporting the work of artists,” says
Executive Director Merrifield, “This year we’re doing even more to support that.
We have a ‘Pro-Pass’ program where we are inviting industry professionals and
talent buyers from across Canada to meet our artists and see what Northern
Ontario has to offer musically. We are also starting up a mentorship program for
young artists.” NLFB has partnered with local organization Music and Film in
Motion as well as the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings
(FACTOR), in order to coordinate these initiatives.
Another buzz item for NLFB is the appearance of Canadian indie rock institution
Wintersleep, headlining the Sunday night of the festival. One critic’s description
of the Halifax band included these words, “One of the most unique sounds to ever
come out of the Maritimes ... The band blows the pants off crowds time and time
again ... This band will take the country by storm” (Chart Magazine). Wintersleep
has become a revered, household name in Canadian music and scored a Juno in
2008 for New Group of the Year. They have performed on The Late Show with
David
Letterman, and their hit song ‘Weighty Ghost’ can be heard all over, used in
countless films and having gone viral online.
These are just a few highlights of the weekend, but if they are any indication, it
seems that NLFB has managed to keep it fresh and exciting once again. The
weekend promises to be a must-see cultural event that is all about the love of real
music and a fascination with great art.
The site for the Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
The Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op was formed to create independent media in the North, to speak to our issues and outlooks on our communities as well as the world around us. Independent media provides an avenue for people who are wishing to gain critical perspective on the issues that matter most to us, and to give a voice to those people and stories that you won't find in the mainstream media.
The Sudbury working-group site is no longer being updated and has been archived.