Artsweek, Peterborough’s biennial festival of the visual and performing arts, returns from September 28 to October 5 featuring 15 programs, over 75 artists, and 50 events across the city.
Presented by the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), Artsweek is a celebration of dance, theatre, poetry, audio and sound art, painting, sculpture, and music of all kinds. You can experience pyrotechnics, dazzling dancers, aerial arts performance, poetry a la carte, front porch concerts, art in the trees, concerts by consorts, storytelling, and more.
As the recurring theme of the multi-arts festival is “Art in Unexpected Places,” original works by local artists will be presented at Millennium Park (both outside and inside the Silver Bean), Peterborough Square, the Downtown Farmers’ Market, Armour Hill, Rotary Park, the Peterborough Lift Lock, Trent University, and more.
Funded by the City of Peterborough, the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), Canadian Heritage, and the Ontario Arts Council, all Artsweek events are free and open to the public to experience.
The origins of Artsweek go back to 2005, when the City of Peterborough celebrated its 100th anniversary as an incorporated municipality and formed a committee — led by arts managers and champions Su Ditta and the late Liz Bierk — to come up with ideas for designated legacy projects in the arts, ultimately leading to the annual Artsweek festival. The city transferred responsibility for Artsweek to EC3 in 2014, and the festival became a biennial event after 2018.
Although EC3 presented a COVID-modified festival in 2020 and early 2021, Artsweek returned as a full-scale event in 2023 with popular programs including Porchapalooza (where local musicians perform on neighbourhood porches), the Take-Out Poetry Cart (where local poets type out spontaneous poems on a manual typewriter), and Hot Spots (where sometimes-overlooked artists perform during the lunch hour in the Peterborough Square courtyard).
VIDEO: Artsweek 2023 Recap
Those programs are returning for 2025, along with new programs including Trent Radio’s Radio on the Go series, A Broader View multi-arts concert on Armour Hill, Solace for the Spirit by the Hollow Woods Recorder Consort and guests, the play The Auction written and directed by 4th Line Theatre’s Kim Blackwell, and The Soul Buffet celebrating Black culture, food, and the oral traditions of spoken word within the Black community.
Artsweek 2025 launches at 3 p.m. on Sunday (September 28) beside the Silver Bean Cafe in Millennium Park, with opening ceremonies including the official proclamation of Artsweek by Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal, remarks by city councillor Alex Bierk (who is also Liz Bierk’s son), and performances by guest artists Samantha Banton, Sahira, Janet McCue, Hank Fisher, Destiny, local poets at the Take-Out Poetry Cart, Elizabeth Jenkins, Victoria Yeh, Caylie Staples, Blues in the Bottle, Josh Morley, and more. There will also be cake and facepainting.
Also happening on Sunday is Porchapalooza, which takes place from 1 to 5:30 p.m. on five porches in the Teacher’s College neighbourhood. Curated by Hank and Kristine Fisher, there are three guided tours starting at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. at 137 Benson Avenue, or you can just drop by any of the participating homes. Joslynn Burford will be performing soul and blues at 137 Benson Avenue, Tyson & Bex will be performing folk at 186 Aberdeen Avenue, old-country duo Mudfish will be performing at 209 Aberdeen Avenue, Jeanne Truax will be performing as a roots-rockabilly duo at 779 Aylmer Street, and four-piece folk-country band The Space Heaters will be performing at 793 Aylmer Street.
Artsweek programs continue throughout the week until the following Sunday. A list of all programs and performance dates and locations, with descriptions provided by Artsweek, is provided below.
A Broader View
Set on Armour Hill with a vista overlooking the city, A Broader View is a multi-arts concert featuring music, visual and media arts, all set at twilight. Vocalist Caylie Staples and Victoria Yeh’s string ensemble present a melodic fusion of classical, improvised, and contemporary music that brings artists and audience members together. Laurel Paluck’s lanterns light the way in this rare, memorable event that fosters a feeling of deepening connection to community.
Date: Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Heritage Pavilion Stage on Armour Hill (300 Hunter Street East)
A Dandy Lion’s Guide: How to Bloom from Rotted Roots
Blending raw poetry, drag fierceness, decolonial, non-linear storytelling, original spell-like lyricism, and groovy queer club basslines, this Afro-Drag fusion performed by Sahira dives deep to bare a truth about grief, addiction, and queer “surthrival.”
Date: Friday, October 3 at 9 p.m.
Location: Peterborough Square Courtyard (corner of Water and Charlotte streets)
A Spider’s Tale
Imagine a cabaret of insects performing physical theatre, aerial arts, vertical dance, hair suspension, and contortion on an aerial rig. Performed by Nicole Malbeuf with Jeffery Cadence, Victoria Kopf, Toria Summerville, and narrator/rigger/script editor Jeremy Pastic, this spectacular piece captures the lives, trials, and tribulations of insects. Inspired by Richard Mabey’s “A Cabaret of Plants,” and narrated by a stick bug, the show features a dragon fly, house flies, and of course a giantorb-weaving yellow spider. Circus arts at its best!
Date: Friday, October 3 at 4 and 7 p.m.
Location: Steve Terry Way (under the Hunter Street Bridge in East City)
Blues in the Bottle
This delightful four-piece jug band Blues in the Bottle with David Tough tumbles out of traditional music venues and onto the streets. Riffing cleverly from the age-old tradition of busking, this group spotlights the kazoo, jug, washboard, and washtub bass. Musicians can always be slightly dangerous purveyors of joy, but a potentially powerful threat to the current social order. Contemporary jug bands like Blues in the Bottle reflect the original and revivalist approach. Gloriously out of place, jug band music maintains its power to surprise people and connect them.
Date: Sunday, September 28 at 3 p.m. (during Artsweek’s opening ceremonies)
Location: Millennium Park (270 Water Street)
Date: Tuesday, September 30 from 4 to 6 p.m.
Location: Rotary Park (100 Hazlitt Street)
Date: Wednesday, October 1 at 11 a.m.
Location: Bluestreak Records (394 George Street North)
Date: Wednesday, October 1 at 2 p.m.
Location: By the Books (384 Water Street)
Hot Spots
Hot Spots shines a light on some of Peterborough’s best, if sometimes overlooked, performing artists. Curated by the inimitable Zwena Gray, this eclectic lineup will liven up your lunch hour like nothing else could. Performances take place at noon each day from Monday, September 29 to Friday, October 3 in the Peterborough Square courtyard at the corner of Water and Charlotte Streets.
- Monday, September 29 (solo set): Beau Dixon (singer-songwriter and musician)
- Tuesday, September 30 (two sets): Niles Baby (Afrobeats musician) and DJ Flaco (lyricist and DJ)
- Wednesday, October 1 (solo set): Yousra (folk singer-songwriter)
- Thursday, October 2 (solo set): Destiny Cardinal (fancy shawl pow wow dancer)
- Friday, October 3 (two sets): Enoka Kawuma (singer-songwriter and guitarist) and Ayinde Skerritt-Williams (singer-songwriter)
Nitaawigi
Nitaawigi (an Anishinaabemowin word meaning one who grows) reflects on artist Josh Morley’s personal journey to better understand his culture and traditional Indigenous knowledge — a journey he captures in a series of paintings on a grand scale (up to 10 feet wide) that make a powerful statement as they occupy urban parks. An artist talk and other activities will be announced.
Dates: Tuesday, September 30 from 4 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 4 from 4 to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Rotary Park (100 Hazlitt Street)
Porchapalooza
Take a tour of five verandas in the Teacher’s College neighbourhood and savour a movable feast of live music curated by Hank and Kristine Fisher. There are three guided tours to choose from, starting at 1, 2, and 3 p.m., which each tour beginning at 137 Benson Avenue. Take one of the tours or just drop by any of the location on your own. This is a rain-or-shine event.
Date: Sunday September 28 from 1 to 5:30 p.m.
Locations: 137 Benson Avenue (Joslynn Burford, soul and blues), 186 Aberdeen Avenue (Tyson & Bex, folk), 209 Aberdeen Avenue (Mudfish, old-country duo), 779 Aylmer Street (Jeanne Truax, roots rockabilly duo), 793 Aylmer Street (The Space Heaters, four-piece folk-country band)
Radio on the Go – Arts Edition
Join Trent Radio 92.7 FM for four live, remote broadcasts at locations in downtown Peterborough and at Trent University’s Symons campus. Each broadcast features a collaboration between a Trent student and local artist, creating original audio art pieces using performance, poetry, music, literature or sound art. Witness the magic in person, tune into 92.7 FM, or stream online at www.trentradio.ca. All events, except the first one, are open to the public to attend in person.
Date: Monday, September 29 at 11 a.m.
Location: Trent University President Cathy Bruce’s Office with student Leighla Foster and musician Parker Farris (not open to the public)
Date: Monday, September 29 at 2 p.m.
Location: Seasoned Spoon at Trent University with student Sadye Middleton and poet Sarah Lewis
Date: Wednesday, October 1 at 11 a.m.
Location: Bluestreak Records (394 George Street North) with student Dave King and artist Kate Story
Date: Wednesday, October 1 at 2 p.m.
Location: By the Books (384 Water Street North) with student Ty McKeen and composer David Grenon
Solace for the Spirit
An outdoor tour of haunted spaces, bringing words and music of remembrance to entertain and comfort both audience members and the spirits who remain. Led by music director Tori Owen, the 13-member Hollow Woods Recorder Consort and guests, including Ken Arndt and Al Kirby, will perform at all three sites identified as haunted through stories and supported by history. Listen to the spirits’ tales at each site and hear music germane to the time and place of their passing.
Date: Monday, September 29 at 12 p.m.
Location: The Jail Park at the Peterborough County Courthouse (470 Water Street)
Date: Friday, October 3 at 5:30 p.m.
Location: West side of Peterborough Lift Lock (354 Hunter Street East)
Date: Sunday, October 5 at 1 p.m.
Location: Steve Terry Way (under the Hunter Street Bridge in East City)
Stab & Gab Felting Workshop
An intimate felting workshop providing a safe space for people experiencing cancer (diagnosis, treatment, remission, living with cancer). As a cancer survivor, artist Melissa Wilson found the slow, careful, and mindful stabbing action that felting requires cathartic. The artist hopes others experiencing cancer will feel the same way. Participants have the option of using their own hair.
While the workshop is free, advance registration is required at www.eventbrite.ca/e/1703018045819.
Date: Thursday, October 2 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Location: Silver Bean Cafe at Millennium Park (130 King Street)
Take-Out Poetry Cart
Step right up to the handmade, bicycle-pulled Poetry Cart, where an array of talented writers will write a poem just for you, tapping it out on a classic manual typewriter. Whether you request a Shakespearean sonnet, a vengeful haiku, or a tragic ode, you are guaranteed to walk away with a unique work of spontaneous art. The Take-Out Poetry Cart features a rotating all-star line-up of area poets including Sarah Lewis, Thamer Linklater, Amal Osman, Ziysah von Bieberstein, and more to come.
Date: Sunday, September 28 at 3 p.m. (during Artsweek’s opening ceremonies)
Location: Millennium Park (270 Water Street)
Date: Tuesday, September 30 from 4 to 6 p.m.
Location: Rotary Park (100 Hazlitt Street)
Date: Wednesday, October 1 from 12:45 to 2:45 p.m.
Location: Water Street between Charlotte and Hunter Streets
Terra Precarium
Artist Garrett Gilbart carves exquisite sculptural elements, inspired by the intricate structures of lichen, from paintings onto salvaged steel. Dynamically illuminated and outfitted with microphones, motors and sensors, the forms become instruments that respond to subtle movement, proximity, and touch — a live sound performance that unfolds over several hours. The work draws on lichen’s ability to survive in inhospitable environments and its role as a bioindicator of industrial pollution while reflecting questions around industrial decay, nature, and the process of resilience.
Dates: Tuesday, September 30 from 4 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 4 from 4 to 7:30 p.m
Location: Rotary Park (100 Hazlitt Street)
The Auction
Written and directed by Kim Blackwell and performed by Lindsay Wilson and Stew Granger, The Auction is a play exploring the breakable and unbreakable bonds in daughter-father relationships, the mental trauma associated with helping aging parents divest themselves of a lifetime of “stuff,” and the presence of nuclear power in Canada. Set against the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar and staged inside an actual storage unit, The Auction is part confession, part ritual, and part absurd comedy — an intimate performance that offers a deeper understanding of what we demand to hold onto and why.
While the play is free to attend, advance registration is required at www.eventbrite.ca/e/1703070462599.
Dates: Friday, October 3 at 1 and 5 p.m. and Saturday, October 4 at 1 and 5 p.m.
Location: My Storage Peterborough (796 Technology Drive)
The Soul Buffet
Presented by Peterborough Poetry Slam Invitational, The Soul Buffet celebrates Black culture, food, and the oral traditions of spoken word within the Black community, featuring a lineup of prominent BIPOC artists (and artists who are allies) curated by Elizabeth “EJ” Jenkins. The event includes performances by Lillian Allen, Sam Banton, Jon Hedderwick, and more, with guests Sarah Lewis and Ziysah von Bieberstein. A BIPOC open mic, where emerging and established poets can share their work, and a family-inspired cookout round out the affair.
Date: Sunday, October 5 at 2 p.m.
Location: Peterborough Square Courtyard (corner of Water and Charlotte streets)
For more information on Artsweek, visit artsweekpeterborough.ca.
For updates and any last-minute program or schedule changes, follow Artsweek on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the Electric City Culture Council and Artsweek 2025.
