The Up Here Festival is an annual art and music festival, staged each summer in Greater Sudbury,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Based on the theme of beautifying and transforming the city through
public art
Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...
, the festival blends the creation of new public
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s and
installation art
Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...
projects with a lineup of musical performances.
The festival was launched by We Live Up Here, an arts organization which grew out of a 2012 book project by local artists Christian Pelletier and Andrew Knapp. It was also partially inspired by the
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...
model of art festivals, which make use of unexpected and non-traditional spaces to change the public's relationship with art, using the city's entire downtown core as a giant open-air venue.
2015
The festival was first staged in 2015; participating artists included Troy Lovegate, Labrona, Alexandra Mackenzie, Trevor Wheatley, Johanna Westby, Danielle Daniel, Nico Glaude and Alexandra Berens-Firth while the musical component was headlined by A Tribe Called Red,
Tanya Tagaq
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...
Artists at the 2016 festival included Ella and Pitr, Ola Volo, Kirsten McCrea, Thesis Sahib, Hobz, Tracy Baker and Neli Nenkova, while performing musicians included Casper Skulls, Cris Derksen, Dilly Dally, Foxtrott,
Holy Fuck
Holy Fuck is a Canadian electronica band from Toronto. They were a part of Dependent Music, a music label and artist collective that began in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in 2004 until its closing. They were then a part of the Young Turks label and in ...
Stars
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...
Participating artists were Jarus and Mique Michelle as muralists, while local artists Kallie Berens-Firth, Sonia Ekiyor-Katimi, Melanie Gail St-Pierre, Madison Kotyluk, Bianca Lefebvre, Matti Lehtelä, Scott Minor, Maty Ralph, Jay Rice, Holly Robin, Julianne Steedman, Dani Taillefer and Isaac Weber participated in the Power Up Project to paint 24 downtown electrical boxes.
Performing musicians included
The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York, United States, formed in 1976.
History 1976–1979
The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York, by Keith Streng (born September 18, 1955, New York City) an ...
,
Duchess Says
Duchess Says is a Canadian punk band from Montreal.
,
Deerhoof
Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised no ...
,
Samito
Samito is a Mozambican-Canadian musician and overall creative who founded Fezihaus, a Montréal-based creative company, in 2020. His growing work is described as "entrenched in an unwavering enthusiasm for sounds and all-embracing conversations ...
,
Lido Pimienta
Lido Pimienta (born 1986) is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, '' La Papessa'', won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.Yamantaka // Sonic Titan
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan is a Canadian experimental music and performance art collective.
Venetian Snares
Aaron Funk (born January 11, 1975), known as Venetian Snares, is a Canadian electronic musician based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is widely known for innovating and popularising the breakcore genre, and is one of the most recognisable artists to b ...
,
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.
He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...
,
Efrim Menuck
Efrim Manuel Menuck (; born November 4, 1970) is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Menuck is also a frequent record producer a ...
,
Frederick Squire
Frederick Squire is a Canadian rock singer, songwriter and guitarist. Originally from Ajax, Ontario, he is based in Sudbury following a number of years living in Sackville, New Brunswick.Random Recipe, The Sorority and Charlotte Day Wilson. Artists included Angela Perdue, Aidan Lucas, Maeve Macdonald, Birdo, Ben Johnston, Haley Rose, Johanna Westby, Kelly Barbosa, Kristina Rolander, Mariana Lafrance, Ness Lee, Sarah Blondin and Sarah Dempsey.
2019
The 2019 festival was noted for the creation, by graffiti artist
RISK
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...
, of the largest public mural in Canada, at the disused St. Joseph's Health Centre site of Health Sciences North. Some specialized painting equipment was stolen from the site during the festival, but the mural was completed by August 31.
Performers included ESG,
Snotty Nose Rez Kids
Snotty Nose Rez Kids are a First Nations hip hop duo composed of Haisla rappers Darren "Young D" Metz and Quinton "Yung Trybez" Nyce. They are originally from Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, and currently based in Vancouver. Their 2017 album ...
,
Milk & Bone
Milk & Bone are a Canadian electropop duo based in Montreal, Quebec, consisting of Laurence Lafond-Beaulne and Camille Poliquin.Hubert Lenoir,
Yonatan Gat
Yonatan Gat is an Israeli music producer, producer, guitarist, and composer based in New York City. His cross-genre work has been called "a vital new music form" by a "legendary live performer" by ''Magnet (magazine), Magnet'' magazine, "melding ...
,
Charlotte Cardin
Charlotte Cardin (born November 9, 1994) is a Canadian pop, electro and jazz singer and songwriter from Montreal, Quebec.
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...
, the musical component of the festival was not staged in 2020; however, various art and mural projects by artists such as Sonia Ekiyor-Katimi, Chantal Abdel-Nour, Ashley Guenette and Lümen Moratz were still undertaken.
2021
The 2021 festival was noted for the creation, by artist Kevin Ledo, of a mural memorializing Sudbury native Alex Trebek on the outer wall of Sudbury Secondary School. Other participating artists included Alex Berens, Tammy Gaber, Lauren Verwolf, Sarah Dempsey and DRPN Soul.
Performing musicians included Marie Davidson, NYSSA, The 555,
Cadence Weapon
Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, '' Breaking Kayfabe'', in 2005 with posit ...
For the first time in the history of the event, the 2022 festival allowed some of the older murals to be "retired" and painted over with new works. It also marked the addition of the city's new
Place des Arts
Place may refer to:
Geography
* Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population
** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government
* "Place", a type of street or road name
** Often ...
to the list of venues, and featured a Sunday afternoon "mystery tour", in which three outdoor musical venues would feature "pop-up" shows by musicians who were not announced in advance.
Performers included Absolutely Free, The Ape-ettes, aurel, Backxwash, DijahSB, DJ Redo, DJ Seith, Ellemetue, Emilio Portal, Exmiranda,
Ghostly Kisses Ghostly Kisses is the musical project of French-Canadian singer-songwriter Margaux Sauvé. She is based in Quebec. She is signed to the British record label Akira Records. The name 'Ghostly Kisses’ was inspired by the William Faulkner poem ''Une b ...
Sister Ray
"Sister Ray" is a song by the Velvet Underground that closes side two of their 1968 album ''White Light/White Heat''. The lyrics are by Lou Reed, with music composed by John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker and Reed.
The song concerns dr ...
, Status/Non-Status, Thea May and Troy Junker, Tommy and the Commies, Uncle Stu, Will Powers, Wolf Saga and YONI. Art projects were by Alex Bierk, Anong Migwans Beam, Born in the North, Catdog3000, Christian Chapman, Lauren Verwolf, Luella, Maxine Lemieux, Melanie Vanco, Nico Glaude, Stephanie Babij, Stephanie Hrechka, Studio Nude Beach and the
McEwen School of Architecture
The McEwen School of Architecture (french: link=no, l'École d'architecture McEwen), formerly the Laurentian School of Architecture, is an architecture school belonging to Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
.
2023
In 2023, festival organizers announced that they would be forced to scale back the event, following a loss of funding from the provincial Experience Ontario program. Most notably, they were forced to cancel an appearance by Latvian singer Elizabete Balčuz, who had been scheduled to appear as the festival's only international performer.
The announcement resulted in a rapid influx of over $8,000 in donations to the festival from the community.
Musical performers in 2023 included Bad Actors, Bibi Club, Bonnie Trash, Boogey the Beat,
Braids
A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair.
The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...
Myst Milano Myst Milano is a Canadian rapper and DJ. Their debut album ''Shapeshyfter'' was released in 2021, and was longlisted for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize.
Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Milano is a longtime DJ in Toronto's ball culture, ballroom co ...