Happy National Margarita Day! Feel free to enjoy this delicious beverage and keep your eyes averted from your icy windows, while you check out all the fun things to do this weekend and in the coming month.
Of course, the big news this week is the Mariposa Folk Festival 2023 lineup has been revealed. Looks like a great lineup, with some familiar faces and some new, some young, and some old.
For me, it will be wonderful to hear Matt Andersen again, and welcome Jeremy Dutcher back to Orillia. He was at St. Paul’s Centre about five years ago, and blew a tiny audience away with his incredible talent. Now he is back as a more well-known name, at the grande dame of folk festivals right here in Orillia.
Other bigger names at Mariposa this year are Tegan and Sara, Feist, Rufus Wainwright, The Wood Brothers, Rural Alberta Advantage, KT Tunstall, Wild Rivers, and Judy Collins. Familiar faces coming back include Steve Poltz, The Weather Station and David Francey.
Other musicians I am excited about include Sam Polley (Jim Cuddy’s younger son), Andrea Ramolo, and the Trews Acoustic. For the full Mariposa lineup for 2023, check the details here. To grab your tickets for the 2023 festival, July 7 to 9, click here https://mariposafolk.com/.
For all you ballroom dancers out there, I just got word that St. James’ Anglican Church and the Orillia Big Band are putting together another big band dance evening. The Maple Leaf Club Spring Fling will be on April 1 at St. James’ Anglican Church at 7 p.m.
The Orillia Big Band will be playing all your big band hits, there will be snacks and a bar, and lots of fun. Period costumes are welcome, and tickets are only $20. To get your ticket, contact Randy Hoover at [email protected] or St. James’ Anglican Church. Grab your ticket soon, I believe the last dance sold out.
Looking ahead to March, there are tons of great shows coming up, so here is a quick and likely incomplete rundown, for now.
Do you have your tickets for Mariposa in Concert at St. Paul’s Centre, yet? Featuring Union Duke, James Gray and Josh Kvasnak on March 25, this show will be a blast, and will likely sell out, so grab your tickets here.
Another show that will likely sell out and will definitely be a blast is My Son the Hurricane, also at St. Paul’s Centre. Billed as the multi horn, multi drummer, multi singer brass funk beast, this band brings it to every show and sells out every show everywhere as well. Tickets for the March 30 experience go on sale Feb. 23 here. Grab them before they are gone.
Yet another show at St. Paul’s in March, is the Orillia Concert Band’s Broadway on Peter Street, featuring guest soloist Christina Bosco and a wonderful trip down memory lane with all the Broadway tunes so dear to our hearts. The show is March 4 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Centre and you can get your $15 tickets here or at the door.
Don’t miss the Orillia Silver Band, also at St. Paul’s, on March 19 at 2 p.m. The show will feature Marche Joyeuse by Emmanuel Chabrier, Rhapsody in Brass by Dean Goffin and a suite from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. You can plan ahead and get your tickets through the Orillia Opera House website: www.orilliaoperahouse.ca.
This Friday Night, join the Mariposa Arts Theatre group for their February social, featuring a theatre-themed trivia night. The party starts at 7 p.m. at the MAT Warehouse, 12 Bramner Drive, and tickets are pay what you can, with snacks provided. You can get your ticket, for yourself or your trivia team, here.
Don’t miss the first in the series Artist Life Stories, Susan Arglukark, on Feb. 28 at the Orillia Opera House. Canada’s Arctic Rose is a true Canadian icon, with several Junos under her belt, not to mention being an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a recipient of the Governor General’s performing arts award, on top of numerous honorary degrees.
Arglukark will talk about her life and stories Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and you can get tickets through the Orillia Opera House box office here www.orilliaoperahouse.ca.
Don’t forget about The Cellar Singers concert this Saturday at St. James’, featuring Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem with special guest soloists. For tickets, go here www.thecellarsingers.com.
As always, Couchiching Craft Brewery has lots of live music this week, with Jake Hammond on Thursday, The Bob Taylor Band Friday, Julien Kelland Saturday, and the Will Davis Chris Robinson Duo on Sunday afternoon. Lots of fun all weekend long.
Enjoy the last gasp of winter, spring is around the corner. If you have arts news, send it to [email protected] by Tuesday at noon to be included.
