Trailblazer Music Festival returns to Armoury for Culture Days

September 11, 2020 · 0 Comments

Aspiring York Region elementary and secondary school musicians are invited to apply to be a part of the Trailblazers Music Festival, set to take place next month at the Aurora Armoury.

A collaboration between the Aurora Museum & Archives and area musician Jared Stafford, the Trailblazers Music Festival is a revival of an initiative that took place in the same location as part of Canada 150 celebrations in 2017.

“When we started this in 2017, we had ambitions of making it an annual event,” says Michelle Johnson of the Aurora Museum & Archives. “With the renovation of the Aurora Armoury, it was put on hold for a little bit and this is the first year we can do it again, albeit modified.”

This year, the festival will take place over two evenings – October 2 and 16 – on the patio of the Armoury, now home to the Niagara College’s Canadian Food & Wine Institute.

The Canadian Food & Wine Institute will offer a ticketed option providing food and drink, but similar to the Town’s popular Concerts in the Park summer music series, squares for social bubbles will be drawn out on the grass of Town Park just beyond the patio gate where people can register and enjoy the music for free.

“It is still being developed and headliners are bring finalized, but we knew we wanted to offer this live performance opportunity because of COVID and we wanted to be able to extend these performance opportunities to new and upcoming musicians who might just be starting to find their place and their footing,” says Ms. Johnson.

The call is now open for performers to get in touch with the Aurora Museum & Archives via curator Shawna White (swhite@aurora.ca) to begin the application process. In addition to filling out the application form, musicians will be asked to include a link to an online video showing off their talents.

“The call-out is specifically for students in York Region who are in elementary or secondary school and we’re really looking for students who can hold their own,” says Ms. Johnson. “We’re looking for solid performers who are really itching to get back to performing live. As much as they are aching to perform live, there are a lot of people who want to watch a live performance. The audience will be captivated and very enthusiastic about watching them perform because it is something everyone has missed incredibly.

“This will bring live music back to the Armoury. As we know from our research, live music was always part of the Armoury. There would be garden parties, bands, dances – it was really that multipurpose space where the community came. We are just really happy again to bring live music back to the Armoury and continue that Live at the Armoury idea.”

The deadline to submit your application is September 14.

By Brock Weir