As Canadian jazz festivals fall, Niagara’s fights on
Two months into the pandemic, COVID-19 has been merciless on Canada’s jazz festivals this year.
Ottawa. Vancouver. Winnipeg. Montreal. Edmonton. Halifax. All cancelled.
One fighting to stay off that list? The TD Niagara Jazz Festival. While organizers Juliet Dunn and Peter Shea say some events are being postponed or livestreamed, the multi-week festival itself hasn’t pulled the plug yet.
“It is so difficult to even comprehend that the whole world is shut down and we need something to look forward to,” says Dunn. “It is so important that we do.”
This year’s signature event, the Summer Mardi Gras, is still scheduled to take place July 18 in Port Dalhousie. But if lockdown restrictions haven’t been lifted by then, the event will go online for the festival’s ‘Tentative Concerts’ series.
The festival has already livestreamed more than 16 shows for its ‘LOVE.JAZZ Series,’ continuing with Miguel de Armas and Miguel Jr. on Friday.
A New Orleans-themed series of shows starts today leading into the Mardi Gras event, hosted by Chris Butcher of Heavy Weights Brass Band.
Dunn says keeping the festival alive this year, even in livestream form, has boosted morale for both the artists and audience.
“The musicians are so used to creating and performing on a daily and weekly basis that being in lockdown is detrimental,” she says. “Many have thanked us for having a project to work towards.”
If there’s a silver lining to the situation it’s that artists are playing to more people online then they were live. Dunn says between 700 and 3,000 people are checking out the festival’s ‘In Your Own Backyard’ livestreams, as opposed to crowds of 30 to 40 people.
In its own way, livestreaming might be widening the jazz audience.
“If jazz artists are performing for over 200 people, it’s often ambiance/background music for corporate events, weddings, winery events, etc.,” she says. “Not necessarily a ‘listening’ crowd. So now all of a sudden these jazz artists have more people listening.
“This is an interesting twist. Maybe jazz will make a comeback.”
Once the festival gets the green light to do live events again, Dunn says it will likely be in a different format, using tents for families or groups of one to six people that will be spaced apart.