What’s up: Concerts, ArtsFest, and Ciderday at the Beer Can

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2023 (1190 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

‘Poet provocateur’ Janice Jo Lee comes to Winnipeg

Thursday, 8 p.m.
West End Patio
Tickets $15 plus fees at wecc.eventbrite.ca

Janice Jo Lee is a true polymath.

The Toronto-based folk-soul-jazz singer-songwriter is also a composer, sound designer, spoken-word poet, theatre maker and arts/anti-oppression facilitator. Lee’s lyrics are concerned with contemporary issues, set to richly textured soundscapes crafted from guitar, looping pedal, trumpet and Korean janggu drum.

A second-generation Korean-Canadian, Lee’s latest album, this year’s Ancestor Song, was informed by her family’s roots in South Korea.

“These melodies access a musical spirit deep in my blood memory,” Lee says in her artist bio. “Melodies I feel have been passed down to me by my ancestors, who gave me the voice in my chest and my body as instrument.”

This concert will be held outdoors on the West End Patio at the West End Cultural Centre. Doors are at 7 p.m., show is at 8 p.m.

— Jen Zoratti

 

Head to Kenora for ArtsFest

Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
300 Main St. S, Kenora, Ont.
Free admissions, donations encouraged

If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to make a day trip to Kenora, Saturday would be a wise choice.

The annual ArtsFest, presented by the Lake of the Woods Arts Community, is described as a “full-day arts extravaganza,” complete with mainstage musical performances (harpist Olivia Whiddon, folk duo the Sunday Mornings, singer Ted O’Flaherty) and a market featuring creations from 20 local makers.

Indigenous-made clothing will be highlighted during the Nish Deva Fashion Show, while children can participate in arts and crafts — flower crowns, face painting, natural art, pottery, watercolour painting — at the KidZone.

During the festival, admission to the Muse (Lake of the Woods Museum and Douglas Family Art Centre) is only $2.

— Ben Waldman

 

Winnipeg’s ready for Pardi time

Saturday, 7 p.m.
Canada Life Centre
Tickets: $59.50-$105

Country singer Jon Pardi, whose latest album is titled Mr. Saturday Night, will try to live up to that moniker at the arena on Saturday.

The 38-year-old, who in April became the first Californian to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, lets fiddle and pedal-steel guitar take centre stage with his twangy vocals in the album’s title track, in which Mr. Saturday Night also “missed her Saturday night.”

This will be third time Pardi has played Winnipeg’s downtown arena, following gigs in 2017, when he was the Country Music Association’s best new artist of the year, and 2019, when he sang Heartache Medication on the season finale of American Idol.

Lydia Sutherland, who appeared on La Voix, the Quebec version of The Voice, in 2018 before moving to Nashville, opens the concert.

— Alan Small

 

Ciderday at the Beer Can

Saturday, 2-6 p.m.
The Beer Can, 1 Granite Way
Cider passport $25 at the venue

How do you like them apples? That’s for you to find out on Saturday afternoon, as three of the province’s cider producers team up for a tasting of their wares.

Ciderday at the Beer Can will see Winnipeg’s Next Friend Cider, Winkler’s Dead Horse Cider Co. and Pilot Mound’s Wooden Gate Cider Co. pouring a variety of their products on Saturday from 2-5 p.m. All three cideries are slated to bring some fun pours, and local cider fans might be particularly curious to try Wooden Gate’s products, which are currently only available direct from the company and at farmers’ markets.

A Ciderday passport will be available at the bar at the Beer Can for $25, which is good for six four-ounce pours. Make the rounds and fill up your passport, and you’ll be eligible to win a prize.

— Ben Sigurdson

 

It’s OK to be a little flighty

Saturday, and Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Living Prairie Museum, 2795 Ness Ave.
Free admission

Break free of your cocoon and head outside this weekend to the 15th annual Monarch Butterfly Festival, where there will be guided hikes, crafts, exhibit booths, Prairie plant sales, milkweed giveaways and of course, live butterflies flitting about.

Attendees are advised to pack some water and snacks for this mostly outdoor event. Hour-long guided hikes on both days start at 11 a.m, 12.30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Cash-only donations are welcome and free on-street parking is available.

Living Prairie Museum, a 13-hectare tall grass prairie preserve and nature park, is one of the few remaining spaces of a vast ecosystem which once covered one million square kilometres in central North America.

— AV Kitching