“Artists for Artists”.
That’s the motto behind the upcoming Tkaronto Music Festival: Online, organized by the Indigenous led 50/50 Performing Arts Collective.
Originally planned as a outdoor music festival, the event has moved online due to COVID-19 and will be streaming on Facebook Live, Youtube Live, and TKMF.ca from May 15 to May 17, under the hashtag #TKMF20.
“It’s essential during the COVID-19 quarantine we keep our spirits up,” says festival spokesperson Ian Maracle.
“With many artists being hit hard, we thought moving the event online instead of pushing it back to 2021 was the best way to show our support for Indigenous communities and storytellers,” said Maracle.
With people from across the globe staying home, organizers believed this is the perfect time to put the spotlight on the established and emerging Indigenous talent.
With the newly created 50/50 Performing Arts Collective and its extensive network of supports from across the world, including Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, National Arts Centre – Indigenous Theatre Department, Manitoba Music, Yukon Arts Centre, Sanderson Centre and Talking Stick Festival to name a few, the event will reach a wide audience.
Some of the artists performing will include DJ NDN (Ian Campeau), former member of A Tribe Called Red (ATCR), Juno Award-winning Digging Roots, folk and country singer-songwriter William Prince, The Launch winner Logan Staats, Northwest Territories-based Leela Gilday, and the “Godfather of PowWowStep” DJ Shub. Go to TKMF.ca for full lineup.
50/50 Performing Arts Collective is a small group of seasoned Indigenous and non-Indigenous creatives, event professionals, and marketers. With more than 20 years of experience curating and hosting talent, they have come together to give Indigenous creative professionals a new way for their work to be discovered.
