Barges? We don't need no stinkin' barges

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Colin Corneau/Brandon Sun Winnipeg singer-songwriter J.P. Hoe will perform with the WSO Friday. (COLIN CORNEAU/BRANDON SUN)

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KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Barge Festival goes bargeless: above, the band Sol James (from left Ryan Voth, Ryan Cheung, Sol James and Daniel Jordan) improvises on the water taxi dock; left, Winnipeg singer-songwriter J.P. Hoe will perform with the WSO Friday.

This weekend's Barge Festival gala features the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performing selections from the likes of Handel, Ponchielli, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Hoe.

The young gun on that list is Winnipeg's own classy singer-songwriter J.P. Hoe, who will appear with the WSO under the canopy at The Forks performing the Manitoba Time jingle he was commissioned to write by Travel Manitoba.

Hoe was tapped to pen the song earlier this year and completed it in two days.

"J.P.'s style of music, and the fact that he's an up-and-coming Manitoba artist, drew us to him," says Linda Whitfield, Travel Manitoba's vice-president of advertising and communications.

Hoe has performed the ditty a few times with the WSO this summer -- including Canada Day -- but this weekend will probably be the last chance the public will get to hear it live, although it will continue to be used in the marketing campaign.

"It's been a slice to play a few dates this summer with the WSO, and to have enjoyed my first experience being a gun for hire in the world of advertisement," Hoe says. "Hopefully there will be more opportunities along the way, as long as they aren't for discounted recalled cribs or child-friendly cigarettes."

The WSO will be the final performers Friday on a night organizers are calling "Franglish" because of the mix of English and francophone performers, including Twin, the Justin Lacroix Band and Red Moon Road. Local company PO-MO will put on a visual art display during the WSO's performance.

Saturday is being dubbed Sirens of Song with a focus on female performers and female-led bands, including Nathan, Marijosée Clement, Enjoy Your Pumas, Jess Reimer, Mise en Scene, Little Miss Higgins and Melissa McClelland.

Sunday wraps up with family day, featuring the Manitoba Star Attractions Talent Showcase contest (organized by Errol Ranville, who will perform a song or two), Salsa Explosion and Son Urbano.

The most noticeable thing about the second annual Barge Festival is lack of said barge, owing to higher-than-average river levels that have turned the grassy amphitheatre into a muddy mess.

"It's not the barge that's the problem; there's nowhere to put the audience," Paul Jordan, The Forks' chief operating officer, said at a press conference last week.

This summer water levels have been an average of four metres higher than normal at the junction where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet and is still more than two metres above its usual level.

Despite the fact there won't be anything resembling a barge at this year's Barge Festival, there was never any thought of cancelling it or changing its name, Jordan said.

Last year a dock was set up in the Assiniboine River serving as a stage for the performers. The long-term plan is to have the barge towed to different sites along the two rivers over the course of the weekend.

The festival was created as a "legacy event" by the Winnipeg Arts Council as part of the Cultural Capital of Canada Celebrations in 2010.

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca

Barge Festival schedule

Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Al Simmons

Twin

Justin Lacroix Band

Red Moon Road

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.

Young Lungs Dance Collective (between-act entertainment)

Nathan

Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir

Marijosée Clement

Enjoy Your Pumas

Jess Reimer

Mise en Scene

Sol James

Sheena

Little Miss Higgins

Melissa McClelland

Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

2nd Hand Pants

Manitoba Star Attractions Talent Showcase

Salsa Explosion

Son Urbano

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 18, 2011 D3