Sudbury Performance Group is gearing up to host their second annual Her Northern Voice Music Festival that showcases and highlights women artists and the importance of women within the arts and culture scene in the North.
Featuring female artists from across Canada, the five-day event from August 9 – 13, will feature several female-driven musical acts where each performer is either a solo female act, features a female lead singer, or the majority of the band is female.
Macey Veldman, member of Sudbury Performance Group (SPG), who has performed in a number of their musicals, and is a volunteer for this event, said as a female performer, she supports any event that celebrates women and their talents, and thinks audiences will appreciate the diversity and inclusivity in the festival programming.
“We really wanted to show people that SPG is not a group that showcases the same people all the time because it isn’t,” Veldman said. “One show will end and two months later a new show begins and it’s a completely different cast,” adding that in this festival they have such an eclectic mix of talent.
This festival has representation from the English, Francophone, Black, Indigenous, Queer, and South American communities.
The music festival kicks off with a concert by Monochrome at the Hilton Garden Inn, followed by Ashley Woodruff at the Trevi Bar & Grill, and Patricia Watson at the Hilton Garden Inn on August 10. Decades performs Friday evening at the Hilton Garden Inn, and this coming Saturday, SPG welcomes the community to join them at Grace Hartman Amphitheatre.
Here, Veldman said there will be performances throughout the day until 7 p.m. that include Chanelle Albert & the Easy Company, Viv and Leo, and Naked Soul, to name a few. There will be several food and artisan vendors, music, dancing and more, with something for everyone to enjoy.
Besides fun and entertainment, Veldman said the music festival also aims to support local charities that provide essential services to women across Northern Ontario. This year, they will be partnering with YWCA Sudbury to let the community know they are there to help.
“We wanted them to be there to share their services and hand out pamphlets and accept donations, there is no cost for them to be there, but we just wanted to show these organizations that we support them and we want to help them get the word out to the women of the community that these organizations are also there to help, not just SPG,” she said.
The main event of the festival is a performance by Aboriginal performing artist and motivational speaker, Susan Aglukark, who will be performing at College Boreal Concert Hall on Saturday evening. Aglukark, who is a seven-time Juno Award winner, will be performing music from her vast selection of well-known songs. Opening for Aglukark that evening will be local performer, Thea May
The final day of the festival starts Sunday morning at the Hilton Garden Inn with a Princess Breakfast, We Bring the Party. To reserve your spot, call the Hilton Garden Inn at 705-585-5028. This is followed by an afternoon of free musical performances at Fionn MacCool’s beginning at 1 p.m., and includes Natalie Crispo, Chicks with Picks, and Lisa Marie Naponse, to name a few.
SPG wants to ensure women feel valued, empowered and supported
When Veldman originally joined the SPG Board, part of her role, she said, was to reach out to mothers with children. A first-time mother herself, she understands the importance of women having that village of support, which is what SPG has given her and what they want to give other women.
“I really love being a part of SPG and all the things they do, they’re a really welcoming and family-oriented community,” she said.
And this is also what Her Northern Voice aims to do: ensure that women feel celebrated, appreciated and included, not only within the arts and culture scene, but supported and connected within the community.
“All women deserve to be celebrated, they always say it’s a man's world but there would be no world without women."
Her Northern Voice is a free event and begins August 9 – 13, at various venues in Sudbury. Susan Aglukark concert is the only ticketed event, and takes place on August 12, 8 p.m. Tickets for the Saturday evening performance can be purchased online.
For more information, call SPG at 705-662-8518 or click here for a complete listing of events.