The Halifax Pop Explosion was a

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or ho ...

and conference that occurred every fall, typically two weeks after

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

, in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

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 to ...

. The term "Halifax Pop Explosion" also came to be adopted in the 1990s as the name of the Halifax

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

music scene as a whole, which at that time was dominated by

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...

acts such as Sloan, Jale, The Super Friendz, and

Thrush Hermit Thrush Hermit was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s, known for their "highly energetic, humorous, and unpredictable performances," as quoted by Vice News. History Thrush Hermit was formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1992 by Jo ...

.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, (2011) '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. (10th anniversary ed.)

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

. . p. 457.

History

Founded in 1993, the Halifax Pop Explosion has actually been three different events that are now remembered as one long standing event. The original Halifax Pop Explosion, which was operated as private business from 1993–1995, was created as a platform to celebrate Halifax's newfound fame as the "Seattle of the North" and home of Canadian

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of ...

, as well as to promote local bands such as Sloan,

The Inbreds The Inbreds were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992. Originally from Kingston, Ontario,"Kingston's Inbreds don't need guitars". ''Toronto Star'', July 8, 1993. the band relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 and remained based ther ...

, Jale, The Super Friendz, and Thrush Hermit. The company that organized the festival went out of business and a new organization launched the "Halifax On Music Festival", which ran successfully but not profitably for four years. The festival did not take place in 2000. In 2001, Waye Mason, a past owner of the Halifax On Music Festival, created the not-for-profit Halifax Pop Explosion Association to operate the festival for the good of the music community, regardless of long term profitability. The festival name returned to the Halifax Pop Explosion and the event has doubled in size since 2001. The Festival has expanded its programming to support other genres within the

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

community, as well as the

that it is best known for. By 2006, it was featuring acts from hip hop and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

and

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and hardcore. With 180 plus bands in 20 venues all around town over five days, the festival exhibits considerable breadth in presenting new music. Tanika Charles

Venues

* The Seahorse Tavern * The Marquee Ballroom * The Carleton *

Halifax Central Library The Halifax Central Library is a public library in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street in Downtown Halifax. It serves as the flagship library of the Halifax Public Libraries, repla ...

* The

Rebecca Cohn Rebecca Cohn (born March 30, 1954 in Vallejo, California) is an American politician who served as the California State Assembly member for the 24th District from 2000 to 2006. A resident of Saratoga, her district also included the Buena Vista, ...

Auditorium * Gus' Pub * Bus Stop Theatre * North Memorial Library *

The Khyber The Khyber Building is a registered Historical Property owned by the Halifax Regional Municipality on Barrington Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Until 2014, it was operated as an artist-run centre, public art gallery and social space by Khyber A ...

* The Pavilion * CKDU Lobby * Art Bar + Projects

Conference

The Halifax Pop Explosion conference is held annually at the Halifax Central Library.

XPAND

The XPAND Panel focuses on inclusivity in music and is typically free to the public and includes panels, forums, keynote speakers, songwriters, artists, industry leaders, music executives, and community leaders.

Label Summit

The Label Summit's purpose is to discuss issues within the music industry that are affecting labels and artists. The summit has delegates from around the world and is great for networking and career building.

Sync Summit

Industry experts and artists looking for sync placements converse in one on one talks, roundtable discussions and networking mixers.

Mentor Cafe

Presented by Women In Music Canada and Music Ontario, the Mentor Cafe is for female-identifying and non-binary persons who are looking to meet and converse with female delegates.

2017 Lido Pimienta incident

A disruption occurred during

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.The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

). When the festival-sanctioned volunteer photographer, who was engaged in documenting the performance, refused to move after ten separate requests, Pimienta said, "You're cutting into my set time and you're disrespecting these women, and I don't have time for this". The volunteer was removed from the show and the festival organizers apologized to Pimienta.

Related events

In addition to the music, the Halifax Pop Explosion also continues to support a variety of independent arts and pop-culture events. The Indie Zine and Label Fair, which had been growing since 1996, was replaced in 2006 by three events: the #POPular Conference, a

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

and independent music-focused conference; Halifax Zine Fair, the

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundla ...

edition of the zine fair and independent publishing event curated by

Broken Pencil ''Broken Pencil'' is a Canadian magazine based in Toronto, which profiles zine culture, independent arts and music. It was founded in 1995 and publishes four times annually. History The magazine was founded in 1995 by Hal Niedzviecki. Its curr ...

Magazine; and a series of art gallery exhibitions stage around town.

References

{{reflist

External links

Halifax Pop Explosion
official website Music festivals in Halifax, Nova Scotia Country music festivals in Canada Rock festivals in Canada Folk festivals in Canada Music conferences Music festivals established in 1993 Pop music festivals in Canada