{"id":37642,"date":"2026-02-15T19:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T00:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37642"},"modified":"2026-02-15T19:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T00:03:21","slug":"vinyl-party-spins-music-ambiance-love-and-horses-for-heritage-week-kick-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/vinyl-party-spins-music-ambiance-love-and-horses-for-heritage-week-kick-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Vinyl Party spins Music, Ambiance, Love \u2013 and horses \u2013 for Heritage Week kick-off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora\u2019s music history will be spun throughout Aurora Town Square on Monday as historian David Heard and his Dave\u2019s Vinyl Party take residents on a unique musical journey to mark the start of Heritage Week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heard, who is a familiar face throughout the community, and particularly during the summer where he spins a curated vinyl playlist at the Aurora Farmers\u2019 Market, has long been an advocate for the benefits analogue music has for the mind, body, and soul, and has translated this passion in new ways for the heritage program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heritage Week begins at Aurora Town Square on Monday, February 16, and throughout the day, Heard will present \u201cMusic, Ambiance, Love and Heritage\u201d in the Aurora Town Square caf\u00e9. Nearby, Heard will showcase A Tribute to the Aurora Horse Show, which is very much in keeping with the musical theme; as is Aurora\u2019s Connection to The Beatles\u2019 Sgt. Pepper, a unique display Heard will present on Aurora Town Square\u2019s second floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFebruary is a tough month for a lot of people \u2013 the weather\u2019s been exceptionally cold, the world is a little tilted on its axis with all the conflicts going on, and it is stressful for a lot of people,\u201d says Heard. \u201cIt\u2019s not just that I\u2019m excited about celebrating Aurora\u2019s heritage, it\u2019s because of the timing. People need something like this and I think it\u2019s absolutely wonderful it launches this weekend with Valentine\u2019s Day on a Saturday and Family Day weekend stuff going on. You\u2019ve got Arctic Adventure going on, but maybe some people can\u2019t do the outdoors, maybe they have mobility challenges \u2013 now there\u2019s Town Square. There\u2019s a lot of stuff going on, so Aurora\u2019s going to be a really happening place this weekend!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heard\u2019s interest in Aurora\u2019s heritage runs deep and encompasses many of its facets, but when he brainstormed what he could bring to the Heritage Week program, he said his first choice was an easy one: illustrating Aurora\u2019s connection to the Beatles\u2019 iconic album Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a powerful story for people, the lore of the OPP patch on Paul McCartney\u2019s shoulder and everything, so I thought it would be a great way to just do a visual display,\u201d he says, noting the display includes a replica of the costume in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Valentine\u2019s Day on Saturday, the second element he wanted to bring to the table was also clear: a curated collection of love songs \u2013 but not just the ballads. Expect funk, reggae, rock, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m spinning a marathon from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., no repeats, and I can guarantee you that there are going to be people bopping through Town Square,\u201d he says. \u201cI pride myself in making enhanced spaces with what I do. I don\u2019t crank the music, I just set myself up in a nice little corner and the music just emanates through the whole building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe third one is very special to me. The number-one thing when I\u2019ve gone out and done speaking engagements or walking tours, or on my social media, the thing that people really get most excited about is the memories of the Aurora Horse Show. I have some photographs of thousands and thousands of people just packing the hills watching world-class riders. We were the last stop every four years before the Olympics, and really the world was watching because we had riders from England, Brazil, Mexico and Iran. There were dog shows, baking contests, it was community \u2013 and every summer, that\u2019s what we looked for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how does the history of the Aurora Horse Show mesh with Dave\u2019s vinyl?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 100 square foot mural, set to be assembled in the Aurora Town Square caf\u00e9 space, encompassing more than 100 individual albums featuring horses in their cover art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can correctly guess \u2013 or count \u2013 the number of individual horses depicted in the mural, there just might be a prize in the offing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith my musical displays, I\u2019m trying to create an environment where it distracts from the distractions of the busy world we\u2019re in, whether it be the digital world or maybe something someone\u2019s struggling with in their life,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve struggled a lot and I can tell you, I know this collection has, without a doubt, saved my life. I thought, why would I be the only one that would be impacted if I can come up with unique programming?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are struggling right now, whether it be economically, emotionally. It’s been a horrible, horrible, cold winter. I guess the love program says it all. I just want to bring a little love to Aurora, a little bit of a positive distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love heritage, and I love music \u2013 and Aurora’s okay too!\u201d he continues with a chuckle. \u201cI just want to bring it, and I hope people will bring themselves and take it in, and let’s just forget about the world for a few hours and be a community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on Aurora\u2019s Heritage Week, visit aurora.ca\/heritageweek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aurora\u2019s music history will be spun throughout Aurora Town Square on Monday as historian David Heard and his Dave\u2019s Vinyl Party take residents on a unique musical journey to mark the start of Heritage Week. Heard, who is a familiar face throughout the community, and particularly during the summer where he spins a curated vinyl […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9N8","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 20:22:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37643,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37642\/revisions\/37643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}