Holy. There is so much going on this weekend and this month and next month ... that I don’t even know where to start. And it’s all excellent. I wish I was seven people so I could go to all of it.
This Friday alone: Tommy Youngsteen, Holly Cole, and the Drag Spooktacular at Couchiching Craft Brewery. How do you choose?
The all-star band Tommy Youngsteen, with members and alumni from The Sam Roberts Band, Stars, The Stills, The Dears, Sloan, The Trews, Lowest of The Low, Serena Ryder Band and The Arkells, are doing a tribute show to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album.
It’s going to be an amazing show, and with food and drinks by Quayle’s Brewery and Eclectic Café, a yummy one as well. This is a 19+ show, and tickets are only $49.26 on Eventbrite here. Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m., and it’s at the awesome St. Paul’s Centre Great Hall. Don’t miss it!
Holly Cole is at the Orillia Opera House also this Friday to kick off the Orillia Jazz Festival, and she will be incredible of course. Tickets www.orilliaoperahouse.ca.
And Couchiching Craft Brewery is doing a Drag Spooktacular…how fun is that? It’s at 7 p.m. Friday and tickets are $25. You can grab them here.
Saturday, Orillia Museum of Art and History’s big landscape show, Traditions Transformed, has its grand opening from 1 to 3 p.m. This is always an incredible show with amazing landscape art from all over. Go see it.
Or, you might already have tickets for Autumn Mariposa III, also Saturday afternoon, from 1 to 5 p.m. at ODAS Park. This is outdoors under the big pub tent. You can bring your own chairs, and the musicians are: My Son the Hurricane, Aleksi Campagne, Angelique Francis, and Aysanabee. All incredibly talented. There will be food and drinks for sale ... think mini fall folk festival.
This will be an amazing afternoon. For tickets, go to www.mariposafolk.com.
Also Saturday afternoon, the Orillia Opera House kicks off a series of tours. If you want to see inside and all over this historic space, go to www.orilliaoperahouse.ca to grab your tickets.
Saturday night, the Orillia Jazz Festival continues with Lance Anderson and amazing musicians William Sperandei, Quammie Williams, and Simon Wallis, plus an ensemble of fabulous jazz dancers. Lance will be premiering music from his upcoming album, World Jazz Asylum. You can read all about this fabulous show here.
Sunday, there is more Jazz Festival with Brassworks and an ensemble of amazing young local performers, at 3 p.m. at the Orillia Opera House. You can read more about that here as well.
Jazz Festival is also all weekend long with performances downtown, including the Chris Robinson Will Davis duo at Couchiching Craft Brewery on Sunday afternoon, and The Joe Huron Trio with special guest, Ted Quinlan on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. For more on all that Jazz Crawl stuff, go to www.artsorillia.ca.
This Thursday, the Lightfoot Guitars Auction kicks off with an in-person celebration at Creative Nomad Studios from 7 to 9 p.m. The online auction gets rolling at 9 a.m. that day and ends that same day at 9 p.m. You can find out all the details here and get signed up to bid. Then, go in person that night to count down and make sure you win!
Also this Thursday, from 7 to 10 p.m., don’t miss The Flailing Shilaleighs, a high-energy Celtic band, at Couchiching Craft Brewery. Lots of fun, put on by Orillia District Arts Council and Culture Days.
Hibernation Arts guest artist this month is emerging artist Ashley Gringhuis, and Peter Street Fine Arts’s guest is photographer Sean Stone. Stop by and see these amazing artists and their work, in person, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Orillia Museum of Art and History’s Spooky Strolls happen next Tuesday, Oct. 17, with family-friendly strolls at 5 and 6 p.m., and the spookier ones at 7 and 8 p.m., with a final stroll scheduled for Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. You can sign up here.
Next weekend, the Orillia Public Library's Big Read Finale Murder Mystery Night is on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. For $25, you get a drink, and food from Eclectic Café, and the theme is 1920s so think flappers and fedoras. Check it all out (see what I did there?) at www.orilliapubliclibrary.ca.
Also next Saturday, at 7:30 p.m., the Orillia Concert Band and the Orillia Big Band are putting on a great show in aid of Hillcrest Lodge. This fundraising concert will be full of big band and concert band material, from Ellington to Flashdance. Grab your tickets here now. It’s at St. Paul’s Centre.
Finally, next Thursday, The Traveling Wilburys tribute band is at the Orillia Opera House. Should be amazing. Tickets www.orilliiaoperahouse.ca.
Incredible events and shows are happening in town, all the time. Don’t miss out. Get tickets and enjoy!
If you have arts news, send it to [email protected] by Tuesday at noon to be included.
