Take a break from the cold with Winterruption
- Andrea Ledding | January 17, 2018
Looking for something to break up the mid-January doldrums of winter?
Look no further than the third annual Winterruption Festival taking over the Broadway Theatre and outdoors behind Victoria School January 18-21 in Saskatoon.
“This year there are twenty-three live performances in 9 venues over four days and we’re adding amazing free outdoor events for the first time ever,” explained Kirby Wirchenko of the Broadway Theatre.
“We set up the storytelling tipi behind Victoria school with the partnership of Wanuskewin, the Saskatoon Public School’s First Nations Inuit and Metis Education Unit, and Victoria School,” said Wirchenko.
The storytelling tipi will feature storytellers every half hour on Friday evening and Saturday from 2-3 in the afternoon onto the evening, and Sunday from 12 to 4. The storytellers themselves are a mix of Indigenous storytellers and new Canadians; programming was aided by the City of Saskatoon Cultural Office. “On Friday and Saturday night, around 9:30 pm, we’re going to close the night with Kevin Wesaquate from the Indigenous Poets’ Society.”
With haybales inside of the tipi for warmth and seating, he is guessing just over 20 people will fit inside at one time, so it’s first come first served. There will also be free sleigh rides on 11th Street and outdoor firepits for warming, along with food providers with hot food. SCYAP is doing facepainting in a heated tent, and there’s a cyclists outdoor winter riding clinic.
“Something I’m really excited about is the insulated mobile hot drinks: coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in insulated backpacks. The tea is birch bark tea from Wanuskewin,” Wirchenko noted.
Sum Theatre is also doing Theatre on the Trail on the riverbank on January 18th to 20th in the evenings, co-created with Danny Knight, Andréa Ledding, Aaron-Marie Nepoose, Kevin Wesaquate, and new Canadians from China and Syria. On Saturday there’s a new Canadian signing ceremony inside Victoria School’s gym, with the actual signing inside the tipi. There are plays at the Refinery, performances at Emmanuel Church and Louis’ on campus, along with shows at Amigo’s, Vangeli’s, the Bassment, and Troupe du Jour. Mohawk musician Tom Wilson will be launching his book Beautiful Scars.
“It’s a wide variety of events that interrupts winter and gets them out of their house on the longest coldest month of the year,” says Wirchenko. “There's an appetite for it and it's cool to have something to look forward to in January.”
Kevin Wesaquate says both the Theatre on the Trail and the Storytelling tent will be enjoyable for audiences of all ages.
“I'm bringing the IPS to the storytellers tent, which should be a great experience for us,” said Wesaquate. “I give thanks for the blessings of being able to tell stories through poetry and spoken word. I am pretty proud of myself in doing my part to revitalize an ancient tradition. Not only that, but encouraging others to follow my example and having fun with it at the same time.”
Wesaquate says his visual art will also appear as mural boards on the Theatre on the Trail installation.
“I hope many people come out to listen to stories and walk on the trail.”