Festival to ‘Hatch’ in Sept.

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This article was published 11/08/2023 (849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A brand-new two-day block party style music festival is coming to Brandon on Sept. 8 and 9.

Hatch, created by producer Michael Falk, will take place at parking lot 2A of the Brandon University Campus. The site will be completely transformed for the festival to become a community-focused music and art event.

With a theme of bringing music, art and community together to change lives, Falk hopes Hatch will create an opportunity for guests to have uplifting, celebratory experiences.

Falk’s company, Head In the Sand, has also been a record label, releasing albums by Iceland’s Apparat Organ Quartet, Royal Canoe, Rococode, Les Jupes, VIKINGS, Ismaila Alfa and more from 2009 to 2017.

Since then, the company has shifted its focus to artist management and special events. Recently, Falk has produced concerts for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and has previously produced Jazz Winnipeg’s festival. In 2016, he produced SpaceLand, a pop-up block party event that was well-attended.

Producing SpaceLand opened up a whole new world for Falk, one that he said he’s been eager to return to.

“I’ve spent the last seven years — other than during the COVID-19 pandemic — producing concerts and festivals, but always wanted to get back to that kind of block party festival idea,” Falk said.

Brandon seemed like the perfect place to debut Hatch, because of it’s strong artistic and musical community and its growth as the second-largest city in Manitoba, Falk said.

“It’s a growing city. It’s got a little vibe going on … and my hunch is that people are ready for a little bit more to happen,” he said.

The parking lot itself also has tremendous space for creative endeavours, Falk added.

“Having all the university buildings around, it just feels like there’s potential for a really cool vibe that we could kind of transform a little bit.”

The beauty of having a contained space, Falk said, is that it really forces people to make creative use of the surroundings.

“For me, I really love these kind of walled-in spaces, and then animating them and inserting a bunch of art into the concrete,” he said.

Not only is Hatch a different style of party than the one Falk produced in Winnipeg, it’ll also be much bigger, he said. Bringing that kind of festival to Brandon is something Falk said he has wanted to do for a while, because the Wheat City has often been overlooked for this kind of event in the past.

“It’s easy to dismiss some of the smaller communities, but I’m really interested in those relationships. I’m interested in getting to know the community, meeting the people where they’re at in their lives.”

The lineup of artists for Hatch’s debut includes a collection of celebrated former Brandon artists who have gone on to do big things across North America, including the band Field Guide, made up of Dylan MacDonald, formerly of The Middle Coast, Calgary-based roots and country trailblazer JJ Shiplett, New Orleans-style party band The Dirty Catfish Brass Band, and producer and songwriter (and also formerly of The Middle Coast) Roman Clarke.

Other musical performers include the JUNO-nominated roots powerhouse duo The Small Glories and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Cassidy Mann, fresh off a tour with Donovan Woods. Former Brandon saxophonist Sean Irvine will join the band Touching for their first performance since putting out two albums, Isolation Blues and littleworlds. JUNO-nominated husband and wife duo Burnstick, comprised of Francophone-Métis singer-songwriter Nadia, and Jason, a Plains Cree guitarist, will also be on the lineup.

Longtime Montreal-based violist Jen Thiessen, who is originally from Austin and has recently returned to the province, will be leading performances by Daily Alice and Classics By Candlelight. In her career, Thiessen has traveled the world playing classical new music and is now the artistic director of Virtuosi.

Contemporary dancers Sophie Milford and Jace Hodges will be creating an improvised performance in one of Hatch’s creative stage spaces and visual artist Casey Koyczan’s work will surround the audience with an air of playfulness.

Additional artists will be announced later this month.

To make Hatch happen, Falk partnered with landscape architect Mark Buache of HTFC Planning & Design to create a site design that will enhance guests’ experience with immersive space-making creativity. Other partners include Brandon University, the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, Victoria Inn Brandon and the Manitoba Arts Council.

Although the 18+ event takes place on the Brandon University campus, it is intended for everyone in Westman. Only 500 tickets are available and they can be purchased at hatchfest.ca for $30 per day or $50 for both days.

» mleybourne@brandonsun.com

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