Music festival hatching something new in Brandon

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This article was published 11/09/2023 (934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The inaugural Hatch festival wrapped up this past weekend, capping off two days’ worth of music, dance and performance art with a series of shows in the heart of Brandon University.

Hatch is the brainchild of recording artist Michael Falk, who’s been carving out a music career in Winnipeg for a number of years and was looking to branch out with a brand new venture.

Talking to the Sun Saturday evening, just after performing alongside his band on stage, Falk revealed that he visited Brandon around a year-and-a-half ago as a member of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and was struck by the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium’s visual profile.

“I really love transforming urban spaces. I love brutalist architecture and the auditorium is phenomenal. The outside of this building is something else,” he said.

“I love it so much and to be able to kind of have it as the backdrop to a stage is really, really awesome.”

This urban landscape inspired Falk to recruit a wide variety of musicians who could provide local music lovers with a pleasing variety of jazz, folk, pop and EDM as the fall season really starts to take hold.

The resulting line-up for the first-ever Hatch festival featured mostly Manitoba musicians, including performers who have strong roots in Brandon like Roman Clarke, JJ Shiplett and Sean Irvine.

Falk also made sure to throw some non-musical acts into the mix to enhance the intended block party atmosphere, such as comedian Andy Noble, visual artist Casey Koyczan and the contemporary dance pairing of Sophie Milord and Jace Hodges.

“I just think there’s a lot of opportunities to program not just music into a festival,” he said.

“You can kind of have these improvised experiences in everyday spaces, right? So … we can transform little nooks and crannies of these parking lots into, you know, little houses of art for a couple of days.”

Hatch marks the second new musical/art celebration to debut in Brandon this year, with the inaugural Salamander Summer Music Festival taking place at Rideau Park back in July.

Before this summer, the Wheat City hadn’t hosted an outdoor music festival in nearly five years.

Based on the feedback he and his fellow artists received throughout Friday and Saturday, Falk believes there’s still a big appetite for live music in Brandon, especially with these events being off the table during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of this, he’s hoping to make some tweaks, bring Hatch back to Brandon in the future and maintain strong ties with the Westman music scene.

“It’s been really awesome to come to Brandon and meet a bunch of new people,” he said. “It’s been really cool to see everyone’s excitement. So yeah, I’m looking forward to doing more.”

The line-up for the inaugural Hatch festival also included artists like Cassidy Mann, Field Guide, The Dirty Catfish Brass Band, The Small Glories, Burnstick, Daly Alice, MA BWE and Classics by Candlelight.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com