Exploring multicultural music in our own backyard
Kitchener fundraiser, food truck and music festival fills the day with free entertainment
KITCHENER — One of the exciting aspects of living in a multicultural community is being exposed to new music, rhythms, instruments and songs.
On Saturday, June 16, Kitchener City Hall’s Carl Zehr Square will be filled with such music: Turkish, Mexican, bluegrass and alt-folk at the 13th annual “Our World Festival of Music” a free event happening in conjunction with the King StrEatery food truck festival.
“I really have to give credit to Brian Scott, (former) City of Kitchener events,” said festival organizer Lawrence McNaught, program director of the Registry Theatre who was approached by Scott more than a decade ago.
“He noticed I was putting on world music at the Registry,” he
said. “They had a program celebrating diversity under the Tapestry banner.”
It seemed logical to pull these two together using McNaught’s connections and interest in world music and bringing it under the umbrella of the city’s events program.
Last year the musical event was held in conjunction with the Summer Lights Festival which this year takes place tonight from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The city approached McNaught and suggested a partnership with Big Sisters Big Brothers of Waterloo Region, which had been invited by the city to participate in the King StrEatery event.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to partner with community groups,” said McNaught, who notes the festival places an
emphasis on presenting musical performers who reside in Waterloo Region or close by.
McNaught is thrilled to have booked world music Juno Award winning artist, QuiQue Escamilla who came to Toronto from the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico in 2007. He will perform at 10 p.m.
At 8:45 p.m. Waterloo Flamenco guitarist, Juneyt, performs. The musician arrived in Waterloo Region from Turkey in 1999 and has become a popular local fixture on the world music scene. In 2017 Juneyt was recognized with a Toronto Independent Music Award.
Other acts include the bluegrass band Barn Katz and “Safe As Houses a local alt-folk group that sings in five part harmony and has been making a name for itself across Canada.
“This is the first year Big Brothers Big Sisters were invited, it’s a new type of fundraiser for us,” said the charity’s resource development manager, Mallory Boyer.
Originally Boyer thought their organization would simply be running a family program in the afternoon and they had booked performers from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. including Tea for Two, Glenn Soulis & Friends and Jessie T.
When they were approached by McNaught, their little event suddenly grew.
“We’ve never done anything on this scale before,” said Boyer. “We sat down with Lawrence, he is a really great collaborative person.”
It made sense to schedule back-to-back concerts, starting at 3:30 and wrapping up by 11 p.m. The thinking was, they wouldn’t lose audiences with non-stop entertainment.
“We’re looking forward to this,” said Boyer, who notes they have never held a concert quite this large before.
Big Brothers Big Sisters’ portion of the festival will feature all manner of activities for kids: face painting, games, drumming circle and hair braiding as well as the music.
The food trucks pay a fee to participate in the event, money that is donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
As well, the organization will hold a Text to Donate, where donors can text a specific number on their smartphones and a $5 donation will be added to their phone bill. The provider then sends the money to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“This is a great fundraiser and it spreads awareness,” she said. “We’re really excited.”