encoreNOW is a bi-weekly column by Paul Rellinger where he features upcoming music, theatre, film, and performing arts events and news from across the Kawarthas.
This week, Paul highlights live music at the 18th annual Kawartha Rotary Ribfest, the return of the Lakefield Jazz, Art and Craft Festival, all things written word courtesy of the Lakefield Literary Festival, the summer concert series at Rice Lake Arts, Anne of Green Gables’ musical turn at Bancroft’s Village Playhouse, Steven Page and Sarah Slean in concert at Westben, and an interactive murder-mystery in Bobcaygeon that leaves us all shook up.
Ribs and live music again go hand-in-hand at Millennium Park
VIDEO: “Just Another Day” – Big Motor Gasoline
If you’re a vegetarian, two things: first, good for you for making healthy eating choices and, second, you best stay well away from Millennium Park from Friday, July 12th through Sunday, July 14th.
It’s not like you’re not welcome at the 18th annual Kawartha Rotary Ribfest. Quite the contrary but, if you’re planning to go to listen to the live music, well, pack something to eat that’s more to your liking.
Hosted by the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, Ribfest sizzles July 12 and 13 from noon to 11 p.m. and July 14 from noon to 5 p.m. A number of food and drink vendors will be on hand all weekend long, including four ‘ribbers.’ A bib isn’t mandatory but it is highly recommended.
Meanwhile, live music is as much a part of the festival as the eats, with the following performing, in order starting at noon each day:
- July 12: Misfits in Action, Vortexans, Four Lanes Wide, Big Motor Gasoline, The Donny Woods Band, and Max-Life Crisis
- July 13: The Hippie Chicks, The Cadillacs, No Looking Back, Pat Temple and the Hilo Players, and Gunslingers
- July 14: Mason Moxley (Peterborough’s Got Talent 1st place winner, Georgia Rose (Peterborough’s Got Talent 3rd place winner), Groove Authority, and Red Cup Country
Between the food and music and the prospect of seeing a whole lot of familiar faces, Ribfest promises a lot of bang for no buck. Better still, with the help of a number of sponsors, all funds raised will support Rotary humanitarian projects, locally and overseas.
The little Lakefield festival that could is still getting it done
VIDEO: “Slank” – Mark Kelso & The Jazz Exiles
One of the big fears coming out of the pandemic was that many beloved annual events wouldn’t return — a combination of momentum lost and wavering enthusiasm on the part of those at their centre.
The nasty COVID thing saw the Lakefield Jazz, Art and Craft Festival shelved in 2020 and 2021. It was, thankfully, revived in 2022 and here we are, with the 2024 edition of the one-day festival set for Saturday, July 13th from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Isabel Morris Park in the village.
As the festival’s name suggests, live jazz music is prominent, starting at 11 a.m. with Zing followed, in order, by Duncan Hopkins, The Adi Braun Quartet, Mark Kelso & The Jazz Exiles, Heavyweights Brass Band, and Groove Authority.
In addition, the festival features work by 30-plus artisans and crafters for sale as well as local food and beverage vendors.
This festival doesn’t receive nearly the attention of other multi-day events in the region but, having dropped by a few times, I’m here to tell you it’s well worth checking out. Sometimes size doesn’t matter and this festival is a perfect example of that.
Visit lakefieldjazzfest.ca for more information.
Lakefield’s annual celebration of the written word closing in on 30 years
Lakefield remains the place to be this month, with the annual Lakefield Literary Festival returning on Friday, July 19th and Saturday, July 20th — a celebration of the written word that has few rivals, if any, in the province.
The festival began in 1995 as a tribute to renowned Canadian novelist Margaret Laurence, who called Lakefield home for a number of years. Since then, it has annually provided a platform for Canadian writers and readers to connect and exchange ideas.
At Lakefield College School’s Bryan Jones Theatre, featured authors Michael Crummey, Kevin Sylvester, Casey Lyall, Kate Hilton, Elizabeth Renzetti, Drew Hayden Taylor, Tim Cook, and Charlotte Gray will read from their work, take audience questions and sign copies of their books.
Meanwhile, on July 20, the ever-popular Children’s Tent in Cenotaph Park will see children’s book authors Casey Lyall and Kevin Sylvester share their work and interact with the kids.
This event continues to check a lot of boxes in terms of not only fostering a love of reading in young people but reminding us older folks why we fell in love with reading in the first place.
Admission to the Children’s Tent is free, with each author reading a ticketed $30 event. However, an all-access festival pass can be had for $115 while a pass to all author-related events is $80.
For a full schedule of events and to order ticket and passes, visit lakefieldliteraryfestival.com.
Local music still has a summer home near the shore of Rice Lake
VIDEO: “I Want Only You” – The Weber Brothers
More than a few years ago, I discovered a destination gem in our region that I just couldn’t believe more people didn’t know about.
Last fall, those in the know were sad to hear that Fran Fearnley was closing her ZimArt Rice Lake Gallery near Bailieboro after 23 years as Canada’s only outdoor gallery of hand-carved Shona sculpture from Zimbabwe. Enter Miriam Davidson, who subsequently purchased the five-acre property that is now home to Rice Lake Arts.
Like Fearnley, Davidson is wholly dedicated to celebrating nature and art by providing a creative learning space that not only offers visual art workshops and events featuring local and regional artists but is also continuing a ZimArt tradition of staging summer outdoor concerts featuring local musicians.
On Friday, July 19th at 6 p.m., the concert series kicks off with the Rice Lake Jazz Quintet, comprised of Marlowe Bork, John Climenhage, Mark Davidson, Steve McCracken and Pete Woolidge — each familiar to local jazz fans.
On the horizon are The Weber Brothers (July 31), The Al Lerman Trio (August 14) and The Receivers: Irish Millie and Murray Shadgett joined by sisters Fern and Willow Marwood (August 28). Tickets for each show cost $40, with a series pass $120, available at www.ricelakearts.ca
Oh, we still love precocious Anne Shirley after all these years
When Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery penned Anne of Green Gables in 1908, it’s a pretty good bet she had no idea that, 116 years on, we’d still be so enthralled with her celebrated work.
Before she died in 1948, Montgomery published 20 novels, 530 short stories, 500 poems and 30 essays — a huge body of work by any standard — but the adventures of 11-year-old orphan Anne Shirley remains in a league of its own, both in its literary form and on stage.
With 2024 marking the 150th anniversary of Montgomery’s birth, Tweed & Company Theatre is presenting Anne of Green Gables: The Musical — Canada’s longest running and most popular musical — from July 17 to 28 at Bancroft Village Playhouse.
This adaptation of Montgomery’s novel, written by Donald Harron with music by Norman Campbell, follows the precocious and imaginative freckle-faced, red-haired Anne as she captures the hearts and minds of her newfound family and neighbours by way of her pluck and personality.
There are few guarantees in life but a smile on your face is a given after joining Anne on her adventures. Good on The Village Playhouse for bringing this perennially delightful story to its stage.
Performance dates are July 17, 18, 20, 24, 25 and 26 at 7 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees July 18, 20, 21, 25, 27 and 28. Tickets are available at www.villageplayhouse.ca.
Westben’s summer schedule brings us two music heavyweights
VIDEO: “Nothing But The Light” – Sarah Slean
If it seems that Westben in Campbellford has something going on every night, there’s a reason for that — it pretty much does have something going on every night. A check of the venue’s summer schedule offers proof of that.
But two dates this month have caught my attention. I know I’m not alone in that regard.
First, on Friday, July 19th at Westben’s Willow Hill venue, Steven Page, a founding member of The Barenaked Ladies, will headline. Then, on Sunday, July 21st at The Barn, four-time Juno Award nominee Sarah Slean will entertain.
These are two Canadian music heavyweights. Westben’s securing of both is quite a coup.
Page, who embarked on a solo career in 2009, continues to draw very well here at home and internationally, drawing material from six albums, the latest being 2022’s Excelsior. Slean, meanwhile, has 11 albums to her credit, her latest Juno Award nomination coming in 2021 in the Best Classical Album – Vocal or Choral Performance category for Sarah Slean and Symphony Nova Scotia.
For tickets to either show, visit www.westben.ca. If it’s hard to choose which to attend, the solution is simple -— treat yourself to what’s sure to be a great evening with both.
As Elvis leaves the building for good in Bobcaygeon, a fun whodunit results
If, as an audience member, you prefer to be immersed in the action, then Who Killed The King at Globus Theatre in Bobcaygeon is definitely right up your alley.
Written by Globus Theatre’s Sarah Quick, the interactive murder mystery takes place during the fictional town of Colligeon’s popular annual Elvis festival. With Elvis impersonators and fans of The King from around the world in attendance, the competition is fierce, but things really heat up on closing night when one performer has left the building for good. It’s left up to the audience to play detective and solve the murder that has left the town, well, all shook up.
Performance dates at the Lakeview Arts Barn off Pigeon Lake Road are July 24 to 27 and July 30 to August 3 at 6:30 p.m., with a 12:30 p.m. matinee added July 27. To order tickets, visit globustheatre.com
Encore
VIDEO: Joslynn Burford on Your TV
- It’s great to hear that the Peterborough Musicians Benevolent Association (PMBA) has secured a new home for its monthly local music showcases. When the first iteration of The Pig’s Ear Tavern closed, it was forced to find a new location, and did so at Dr. J’s BBQ and Brews in downtown Peterborough. Now, with that pub shutting down and moving to Bridgenorth, the PMBA shows will be staged at The Social in downtown Peterborough, continuing the noble work of raising money for local musicians who find themselves in need of some help. Mark Saturday, July 20th on your calendar. That’s the date of the first PMBA event at The Social, with The Vortexans in the house from 1 to 4 p.m. As always, admission is by donation, with $10 suggested.
- Continuing our look at little known but terrific local live music venues, it’s high time we mentioned Music at the Locks at Lock 31 in Buckhorn. Live music is presented by the Buckhorn District Lions Club every Tuesday this month and in August, from 6 to 8 p.m. Upcoming performances feature Joslynn Burford (July 16) and Fyd-L-Styx (July 30). Check out the full summer schedule on the Parks Canada website.
