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The third annual Femme Folks Fest runs from March 8-20, and the hybrid lineup for 2022 includes live events for the first time in two years.
Special for 2022 is a partnership with Collectif COVERT. On certain evenings, a “Woman parade” created by Visual Art Projections, will light up the chic districts. Weekends (March 11-12 and March 18-19) will include a food truck rodeo and live pop-up performances, from dusk to 10:00 p.m.
Femme Folks Fest is dedicated to and celebrates women – identified, presenting and non-binary folk – and takes place every year during Women’s History Month. This year’s festival focuses on creating artists, collaborating, and things that spark fun.
Thirteen artists are featured including Alysha Brilla (Kitchener), Dawn Matheson (Guelph), Lindsay Bellaire (Kitchener), Maddie Lychek (Guelph), Misha Shantz (Kitchener), Olivia Brouwer (Cambridge), Zehra Nawab (Waterloo), Shan Powell (Kitchener), Laura Quigley (Belle River), Racquel Rowe (Sackville, NB), Kim Fahner (Sudbury), Karen Thistle (Sudbury) and Jessie Bergeron (Timmins).
On March 9 at 7 p.m., eclair creator Michelle Ramsay is featured in conversation with Women’s Room playwright Anne Doelman. On March 10 at 7 p.m., local artist Alysha Brilla leads a conversation on the intersection of technology and spirituality with a focus on the production of contemporary Canadian music.
Works in incubation come from Dust and Soul Dance, Lightning Banjo Productions, Watercourse Theater and Virtu Arts. There are also workshops on Indigenous storytelling and textile arts, as well as presentations on circus, cooking and performance art. All are created by regional women artists and all are free.
The complete program is listed online at femmefolksfest.ca.