It’s that time of year again. The New Brunswick Day long weekend has arrived, and Sappyfest is setting up on Bridge Street for the 19th annual festival of music and art.
CHMA sat down with Sappyfest board member Amy Segal outside of Struts Gallery on Thursday, as three artists from OSO planning + design started construction of WEAVE, an outdoor installation which they describe as “part woven sculpture, part seating and part performance.”
Segal says that over 100 community volunteers, including a working board of directors, contributes to making the three day music and art festival a reality. There’s also cooperation from local businesses. “Bagtown is lending their space for band food to take place. Ducky’s is going to be hosting a concert,” says Segal. “Of course, there’s music at the Legion, and everyone from young people who are teenagers to older people who are retired are jumping in to make this festival happen.”
The music for Sappy kicks off on Friday evening with some local youth performances (The Drama Queenz + Kids Corner Power Jam) and continues into the night with Absolute Losers, Puberty Well, and Sick Puppy, ending with ‘dance party music’ from Ontario with Slash Need.
Segal says there’s musicians coming “from near and far to participate in the festival,” including Baie Verte’s Jon McKiel and band performing a new album, retro country band Nicolette & The Nobodies from Guelph, Sappyfest veterans Dog Day from Halifax, and Papal Visit from Saint John. There’s also Lee Rinaldo of Sonic Youth, who is coming to do “a very intimate performance in the chapel at Mount Allison,” says Segal.
Day and weekend passes are for sale on the Sappyfest website, but there’s also free programming happening over the weekend, including a free children’s concert on Sunday at Bill Johnstone Park, a free pancake at the United Church, and a day-long zine and craft fair upstairs at the Legion, which is “always a highlight that you should definitely check out,” says Segal.
Art projects abound at Sappyfest this year. “We’re really grateful for a partnership with Struts,” says Segal. The local artist-run centre is putting on a host of projects including the participatory WEAVE installation outside the Lorne Street gallery, video and performance art by Lisa Smolkin inside, and an interactive sculpture project by local Alex Keeling. There’s also Sappyfest for Dummies, which involves dozens of life-size dummy versions of local people, made by themselves, and on display in the Mount Allison library theatre (3rd floor, RP Bell Library), where Segal says, “the dummies will be catching their own entertainment.”
For more information, check out Sappyfest.com.
