Killarney welcomes back Sights and Sounds fest
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/07/2022 (1335 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Fans of the inaugural Sights and Sounds arts and music festival are in luck, since the Killarney Turtle Mountain Arts Council is bringing the event back later this month with more amenities and an expanded lineup.
Talking to the Sun on Monday, council administrator Jane Ireland confirmed that the second iteration of this three-day festival will feature up to a dozen acts, including: Al Simmons, Red Moon Road, Sam Polley and the Old Tomorrows, Last Birds, Bobby Dove, Sherri Shorting, Ivy Venin, Jerry Sereda, The Dust Rhinos, Banda Taverna and The Bromantics.
This year’s event, which runs July 29-31, will also provide food trucks and a beer garden to complement the artisan market where Westman vendors can sell their wares.
To Ireland, this marks a considerable upgrade over last summer’s Sights and Sounds festival, where the council only managed to wrangle a handful of musicians due to the province’s COVID-19 health restrictions just being loosened.
“Last year we just wanted to dip our feet in and see what the water felt like,” she told the Sun on Monday. “And it felt warm, so we decided to go ahead and expand it.”
Ireland said the communal desire to take part in this kind of in-person event is especially apparent following Killarney’s recent Canada Day celebrations, in which live music and performances returned for the first time in years.
“And they were absolutely thrilled with that, so I think they’re ready to come back to live music now,” Ireland said. “I suspect we’re going to have a lot more interest than we had before.”
Guitarist Daniel Jordan is similarly excited to be a part of this year’s expanded show, since his group, Red Moon Road, has been trying to perform live in Killarney since the pandemic began.
While the Winnipeg-based folk band was originally scheduled to rock out in front of the Killarney’s Heritage Home for the Arts in August 2020, this show was cancelled at the last minute due to growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
Even though Red Moon Road made it up to their Westman fans by organizing an online concert in January 2021, Jordan admits that he and bandmates Sheena Rattai and Daniel Péloquin-Hopfner desperately miss interacting with a physical crowd.
“We did the virtual thing and it was great and we were really grateful for the people who made that happen. But I think everybody would agree that it’s just not the same,” he said.
“It’s so tough just singing into the void, and so we all found other things for a while.”
But now that live concerts are coming back in a big way this summer, with Dauphin’s Countryfest having just wrapped up over the weekend, Red Moon Road is looking to get back on the stage this summer, with Killarney being their first big performance outside of Winnipeg.
“We’re only doing two shows this summer, and that’s one of them, because we couldn’t say no to Killarney. It’s treated us so well over the years,” he said. “And we’re equally excited and maybe even a little bit nervous, because it’s been a while.”
Outside of Red Moon Road’s signature “proto-pop avant-folk,” Ireland and her fellow organizers went out of their way to cultivate a lineup of artists who bring different styles and influences to the table.
Between Al Simmons’ prop comedy antics, Jerry Sereda’s soulful country and The Dust Rhinos’ Celtic rock, Ireland believes that this year’s Sights and Sounds festival will entertain a large number of local music lovers.
“We’re also having The Bromantics come in and they do swing music, and we’re actually having a swing workshop in the afternoon that day,” she said.
“We’ve got a little bit of country, a little bit of rock and roll … all sorts of stuff.”
Anyone who wants to attend the 2022 Sights and Sounds arts and music festival can purchase tickets in advance through Eventbrite or at the Killarney Heritage Home for the Arts (44 Water Ave.).
For more information on show times and ticket prices, visit killarneyarts.com or call 431-734-0394.
» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson