What’s up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2022 (215 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Splash along to local music at Rainbow Trout

Aug. 19 to 21
St. Malo, Man.
Tickets: Day passes are available at the gate

Pack up your favourite water floaties and head south for the annual Rainbow Trout Music Festival. The indie event takes place on the banks of the Rosseau River, with music and entertainment happening at the waterside Carpet Beach stage throughout the festival.

The music lineup includes local acts JayWood, Boy Golden, Juliens Daughter, Trampoline, Living Hour, Dill the Giant, Mahogany Frog, Diaphanie and others. There’s also an open mic on Saturday for all manner of aspiring performers — anything from singing to dancing to juggling to stand-up comedy is fair game.

Beyond the stage, there will be a cribbage tournament, recycled art making workshop, medicine plant walk and art installations throughout the festival grounds, located south of St. Malo off Highway 59. A small market as well as food and drink vendors, including Never Better Coffee, will be on site all weekend.

Camping and weekend passes are sold out, but day passes are available at the gate. Pricing ranges from $40 on Friday, $55 on Saturday and $20 on Sunday. Visit rainbowtroutmusicfestival.com for a full lineup and more information.

— Eva Wasney

 

The Stone Child book launch — David A. Robertson with Colleen Nelson

Aug. 24, 7 p.m.
McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park location
Free admission

Prolific Winnipeg Swampy Cree author David A. Robertson launches The Stone Child, the third instalment of his four-book, middle-grade Misewa Saga fantasy series, on Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location, where he’ll read from and talk about the book. The event will also be streamed by McNally Robinson on YouTube.

Published in early August by Puffin Canada/Penguin Random House, The Stone Child picks up the story where the second book of the series, 2021’s The Great Bear, leaves off. Morgan and friends, both old and new, must race to save her brother Eli’s life after he is found nearly lifeless at the base of the Great Tree.

Last year the production rights to the Misewa Saga were acquired by ABC Signature, a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios.

The Aug. 24 launch will be hosted by Winnipeg teacher/author Colleen Nelson, no slouch herself when it comes to books for younger readers. Her novel Harvey Comes Home took the McNally Robinson Book of the Year in the young readers category; her latest is Harvey Takes the Lead.

With illustrator Julie Flett, Robertson is a two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Awards in the Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Text category. His memoir Black Water, published by HarperCollins, won the top non-fiction prize as well as the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award at the 2021 Manitoba Book Awards.

If that’s not prolific enough for you, exactly three weeks after the launch of The Stone Child, Robinson will be back at McNally Robinson to launch his novel The Theory of Crows, published by HarperCollins.

— Ben Sigurdson

 

Rediscover the Village

Aug. 20, noon-5 p.m.
Various locations around Osborne Village
Free admission

Over the past few years, many Winnipeggers have expressed fears about Osborne Village — long considered the city’s best neighbourhood — losing its cool, owning to increasing vacancies, business closures, tear-downs, and crime.

But there’s new energy pulsing through the Village these days, and the Osborne Village BIZ and Gas Station Arts Centre are inviting the community to rediscover and reconnect with the neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon from noon until 5 p.m..

“We’re getting back to our community roots,” said BIZ executive director Lindsay Somers in a media release. “The Village is about quirky energy, fun, play and, above all, people and connecting.”

The new Osborne Village Community Patio is the latest revitalized public space in Osborne Village, joining the newly spruced-up Bell Tower at the corner of Stradbrook Avenue and Osborne Street. Designed by Joe Kalturnyk of RAW:almond fame, the patio features mural art by Tamiko Chase Kavanagh and hot pink picnic tables and will host live music by African musician Casimiro Nhussi and local flamenco guitarist George Bajer-Koulack on Saturday.

Over at the Bell Tower, you can catch dance battles hosted by Little Monsters Dance, and there will be a ton of kids programming at the Gas Station Arts Centre (including indoors, if kids need a break from the heat). Osborne Village businesses will also be participating in a sidewalk sale.

For more information, visit osbornevillagebiz.com

— Jen Zoratti

 

Hanson comes to the Park

Aug. 21, 7 p.m.
The Park Theatre, 698 Osborne Street
Tickets start at $53.85

Mmm bop, ba duba dop, ba du bop, ba duba dop, ba du bop, ba duba dop, ba du. Yeah. Yeah. Mmm bop, ba duba dop, ba du bop, ba du dop, ba du bop, ba du dop, ba du. Yeah. Yeah.

Those are famous words of the boy band Hanson, and if you know what they sound like set to music, they may be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Sorry. But also, you’re welcome.

In 1997, powered by those moving lyrics, and their youthful charm, the brotherly trio from Tulsa, Ok., rocketed to the top of the North American music charts with their album Middle of Nowhere, earning critical acclaim from serious publications like the Village Voice and Rolling Stone, which even from their ivory towers could not deny the power of a catchy chorus. Three Grammy nominations followed, as did global fame.

Over the ensuing 25 years, Hanson never quite reached the same apex, but they’re still breathing rarefied air. More than 3.5 million people listen to the band on Spotify every month, with countless more humming their early hits absentmindedly. Most bands don’t survive as long as this one — they lose steam, life changes, or they just don’t want to do it anymore — but on their latest album, RED GREEN BLUE, the brothers — who now have 15 children among them, according to a recent Toronto Star interview — are still finding new ground.

Each colour of the 15-track release represents a five-song “mini album” created by brothers Taylor, Isaac, and Zac, making it the first “solo” album they’ve ever done. Together, the near-middle-aged boy band will take the Park Theatre stage on Sunday, and show the audience that their band is more than just a chorus.

— Ben Waldman

If you value coverage of Manitoba’s arts scene, help us do more.
Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.