WHAT’S NEW FOR 2010
Artistic Director Message
Welcome to the 2010 Home County Folk Festival. Prepare yourself for an extraordinary feast of Canadian music, heritage, art and food. While it’s been an enormous undertaking of community effort to produce this year’s festival, we are excited to present you with such a dynamic Canadian experience this summer. What’s new for 2010 ? Through funding from Canadian Heritage and Ontario Tourism, (Celebrate Ontario) we have collaborated with several London arts & heritage institutions; Museum London, Fanshawe Pioneer Village, The Museum of Ontario Archaeology & The Children’s Museum, for enhanced programming in the children’s area and for cross-promotional purposes. Specifically, our children’s programming has expanded this year and includes introductory interactive workshops on hand drumming, songwriting, step-dancing, and various arts & crafts related to roots music and Canadian heritage, including a full traditional Pow-wow each day, and special performances at Centennial Hall. The workshops are free by donation. We felt this was a dynamic way to build knowledge and interest for the next generation of folk festival patrons, and to create a great experience for families. There is also a community outreach Walking Passport Tour to Eldon House with live acoustic music on the grounds, an art show and wood carving demonstration at the Arts Project, as well as a tour of the neighbourhood organized by the Woodfield Neighbourhood Association. On the suggestion of my good friend Jake Levesque, we auditioned thirty emerging London artists and selected a dozen or so to perform on workshop stages called the Spotlight On London. While 20 to 25% of the artist roster has consistently gone to local musicians since my term began as Artistic Director, this initiative significantly increases that figure and creates an opportunity for Londoners to discover new artists in their own back yard. We received our first Canada Council for the Arts Project grant this year for a project involving London’s own Andrew Downing, which continues the fusion programming we’ve been doing in recent years. You can read the details of that exciting project on the Canada Council page of the program. This year the City of London supported the festival by offering us the opportunity to pilot an online volunteer program called Volunteer2 (www.volunteer2.com) , Follow the link on the Home County website to check it out. Its impact is huge for us in terms of volunteer recruitment and scheduling. Last but certainly not least, presenting our special guest headliner Bruce Cockburn has been my long-term plan since taking on the festival. Great things are worth waiting for. We are so thrilled that the timing is finally right for this to happen. Thank you to our sponsors, Victoria Bright, our Marketing & Development Manager, our summer student, Adele Gatto, the HCFL board and all the volunteers for their dedication and long hours of preparation and production. While the festival is free, our budget has increased significantly as we have grown, particularly over the past two years. Here are some things you can do to support us in order for us to continue to present the festival for free, and to reduce the environmental impact of such a large-scale event: Bring your own dishes and picnic ware. Use the $3 stainless steel dish deposit system, or, if you must, use the compostable disposables. Bring your own water bottle and take advantage of the water fountains in the park. Volunteer !!! to wash dishes for an hour, run an Eco-Station, assist with children’s educational workshops. Donate generously, particularly in the children’s area if you have children who are participating in the enhanced children’s programs this year. For donations made at the Info Tent or for children’s workshops, tax receipts are issued for donations of $10 or more, and patron buttons with tax receipts for donations of $50 or more. Another great way to support the festival financially is to purchase tickets for Buck 65’s Opening Gala concert and the After Hours shows at The Aeolian. Ticket revenue helps pay for the venue, production and artist fees. Enjoy the festival! Catherine McInnes, Artistic Director, Home County Folk Festival