People of all ages are flocking to downtown Sudbury this weekend for the Up Here urban art and music festival, taking in family activities on Durham Street, listening to concerts and checking out several newly-painted murals.
Up Here co-founder Christian Pelletier spoke to Sudbury.com about the event after leading us through the Porta Potty Party Portal, which is literally a portal through a porta potty to the decorated alleyway next to the YMCA building.
He admits the festival is a bit weird, “but it’s also just wonderful, right?” adding that the festival tries to promote a feeling of discovery and the wonder of curiosity.
“You know when you see a show, and you’re going for the headliner, and you see this other act is coming up, and you’re blown away by them, and you’re like ‘What is that?’” he said.
The Up Here festival, which began Friday and runs until Sunday, hit a financial snag earlier this summer when it was revealed their funding application to the province came up blank, having been scaled to zero from last year’s $66,600.
But donations from Greater Sudbury citizens allowed the festival to go ahead with some of the programming it had been forced to cancel due to the funding shortfall.
“I mean, we're back in full force, because of the community, because of Sudbury,” Pelletier said. “But everyone showed up and everyone believes in this thing.”
Muralist Jean-Paul Langlois of Vancouver was just signing his name on his completed mural on the Sudbury Theatre Centre building when we caught up with him. He agreed to do an interview before running off to see a show on Durham Street.
Langlois’ colourful mural depicts hunting dogs chasing a stag, and is entitled “A Young Prince Hunted by Ignoble Beasts.”
“It's inspired by Baroque hunting paintings, which is a grand tradition,” said Langlois, who also cites French painter Alexandre-François Desportes as an influence.
“I'm very inspired by film, TV and cartoons, and art history. So the background was just stolen from Looney Tunes cartoon backgrounds.”
If you’d like to check out the remaining schedule for the Up Here festival, visit its website.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
