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Local News: 5th Annual IRIE MUSIC FESTIVAL Brings Hotbed of Caribbean Talent to Toronto!
Featuring Performances by
STEEL PULSE, ERNEST RANGLIN, SUGAR MINOTT, LEROY SIBBLES, SATTALITES and GEORGE NOOKS
The IRIE Music Festival returns for its fifth year with an extraordinary festival line-up that celebrates all aspects of Caribbean music, culture, and history. The festival, which spans three days from Friday, August 4 to Sunday, August 6, will once again feature stages at both Nathan Philips Square and Ontario Place. With performers representing an eclectic range of musical styles, a vendors market, a film festival, and much more, the IRIE Fest promises to have something for everyone!
The 5th Annual IRIE Music Festival officially kicks off with opening ceremonies and a noon-hour concert at Nathan Philips Square on Friday, August 4. The party gets into full swing with a tribute to legendary Queen Street haunt, the Bamboo Club, with a rock-steady double bill of Bamboo mainstays.
Charismatic singer, bass player, and songwriter Leroy Sibbles is best known for his work as lead vocalist of The Heptones. His musical collaborations include the instrumental Full Up, popularized internationally by Musical Youth's recording of Pass the Dutchie, an adaptation of the Mighty Diamonds Pass the Kutchie. The explosive live performances of Juno Award-winning local favourites The Sattalites have contributed to their strong and loyal fan base over the past 25 years, earning the group industry-wide recognition as Canada's ambassadors of reggae music.
The musical extravaganza continues at Nathan Philips Square on Saturday evening when the reggae music community honours the legacy of the crown prince of reggae, Dennis Brown. The impressive list of performers includes George Nooks, who performed as Prince Mohammed, topping the charts early in his career with two hit songs Tribal War and Forty Leg Dread. In 1978, Nooks linked up with Dennis Brown to record the international reggae hits Bubbling Love and Cool Runnings.
This year¹s headline performance on IRIE DAY, Sunday, August 6, showcases three landmark reggae music stars in a single extraordinary concert event at Ontario Place's Special Events Tent.
Master guitarist Ernest Ranglin offers up jazz-infused reggae starting at 5 p.m. Widely regarded for his deep understanding and feeling of music which at times is spontaneous, interactive, passionate, and sometimes outrageous, Ranglin plays everything from calypso, ska, and reggae, to pop, blues and jazz.
Sugar Minot, who is undoubtedly one of the elders of Jamaican popular music, will follow at 7 p.m. The 30-year veteran is a significant figure in the formation of music in the post ska/rocksteady and reggae eras. Hot on the heels of an appearance at Jamaica's acclaimed Sunsplash Festival, the Grammy Award-winning Steel Pulse will cap off the evening with their original and distinctly high-energy style of reggae music. This vanguard of reggae music's 1978 debut, Handsworth Revolution, is still regarded by many critics as a landmark and high point of British reggae.
This IRIE DAY concert is the only ticketed IRIE Fest event. Tickets are $45.00 in advance or $55.00 at the door; a special purchase price includes a buy 3, get 1 free offer. Admission to the IRIE Music Festival at Ontario Place includes the Play All Day Pass entitling the bearer to the use of most Ontario Place rides and attractions, including walk-up access to daytime Cinesphere films.
A world-class lineup of musicians is just the tip of the iceberg at the much-loved IRIE Fest. The annual IRIE Book & Art Fair kicks off its 5th season with an on-stage presentation by prominent Canadian-Caribbean authors, poets, spoken word artisans, and drummers. The literary extravaganza will be followed by a Jamaican flag-raising ceremony hosted by the Jamaican Canadian Association. The ever-popular IRIE Art Exhibition will also be on display in the City Hall Rotunda from August 4 to August 6.
This year's IRIE Music Festival will turn the spotlight on Canadian-Caribbean authors with the presentation of the Literature Alive Film Festival at the NFB Mediatheque. Featuring the 13-part do*****entary series Literature Alive by groundbreaking filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon, the Literature Alive Film Festival celebrates the wealth of extraordinary voices of Canadian-Caribbean authors from the 1960s through to the hip hop generation. Featured authors invite viewers to experience how the vibrant Caribbean culture continues to expand around the globe, and how vital the act of storytelling is to it. The Literature Alive Film Festival takes place on Friday, August 4, 79 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, August 5 and 6, Noon5 p.m.
Sunday afternoon will be hive of activity as the IRIE Music Festival hosts a provocative exploration of Caribbean Culture with the staging of an Emancipation Day Panel moderated by Adrian Harewood. Renowned professor and author Rinaldo Walcott and Ontario Black History Society President and activist Rosemary Sadlier will be among the dignitaries on hand to debate, discuss, and celebrate Emancipation Day. Vivine Scarlett¹s dance Immersion, an organization that gives voice to dancers and dances of the African Diaspora, will follow with the annual IRIE Dance Presentation.
An ideal way to experience Caribbean culture, the IRIE Music Festival has been designed as a three-day celebration of music, dance, art and culture. Created as a unifying symbol of Toronto's diverse cultures and traditions, IRIE Fest is an opportunity to promote a greater understanding between the diverse cultures and traditions of our world class city. This year's IRIE Fest will share in the message of peace and understanding with a special Hiroshima Day Commemoration Ceremony, which includes greetings from Mayor David Miller and members of the Japanese-Canadian Community, as well as a riveting performance by the acclaimed Yakudo Drummers. The cultural activities at Nathan Philips Square wrap up on Sunday with inspiring gospel performances by some Toronto¹s finest choral artists.
The IRIE Music Festival is presented by WORD Magazine and is sponsored by CITY TV, Canadian Heritage, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Guiness, Western Union, TTC, dance Immersion, Burke's Books Store, Small Gallery, and CARN.
For a full line up of IRIE Fest events visit our web site at www.IRIEmusicfest.com.
Sunday, August 6, IRIE Day at Ontario Place featuring Ernest Ranglin, Steel Pulse, Sugar Minott
Admission: $45 advance/$55 door Buy 3 Tickets, Get 1 Ticket Free Admission includes the Play All Day Pass entitling the bearer to the use of most Ontario Place rides and attractions, including Cinespehere films and the Soak City Water Park. Ontario Place grounds open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; most attractions open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Soak City Water Park open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more Ontario Place information call: 905-799-1630 All prices subject to applicable taxes. Contact TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.ca or call 416-870-8000 For up-to-date artist information please visit our web site: www.IRIEmusicfestival.com
Posted on Thursday, August 03 @ 16:26:30 UTC by jcohen
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