In the Soil ready to kick off in Niagara this week - Can you dig it?

Okay, so I maybe overdid it a bit with the heading there...what the heck, a fun arts festival like In the Soil knows how to laugh at itself, so why not have some fun now, too?

Yes, the third annual In the Soil - Niagara's Homegrown Arts Festival kicks off Wednesday of this coming week in downtown St. Catharines, running through to May 1st, and already the festival is causing more than a little buzz in the community.  If you are not familiar with In the Soil, it is a nice, friendly, down-to-earth grassroots sort of festival of many facets of the arts right here in Niagara, with most performances taking place in various locations in downtown St. Catharines.  The previous two festivals have done very well both financially and artistically, proving once again if you give people a decent reason to get out in the evening and come downtown, they will.  In the Soil is more than decent; it is the perfect tonic as we launch headfirst into Spring 2011!

I will be attending the festival launch this coming Wednesday evening at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre in downtown St. Catharines, so I hope to write more that evening about all the exciting events coming up.  For now, though, by way of a preview, a couple of things I can tell you about right now.  One of the most interesting aspects of this year's festival is a theatre showcase at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse theatre.  Known as a "Three Play Crop Rotation", three plays will run in repertory during the festival, with admission to each show only ten dollars at the door. 

Former Welland resident Katie Hood is set to premiere The Animal Show, a touching and quirky tale of an animal rescue worker.  Twelve Fold Theatre's Richard Varty, a hard-working Brock theatre student, has written and will direct an ensemble of emerging artists in Room for Improvement.  And professional locals, Stolen Theatre Collective will take on The Nona in what promises to be a rather physical and musical show, I'm told.

Another new concept this year is provided by Toronto-based company FIXT POINT, who will be in town with an extension of their Tale of a Town series.  Their project, The Living Archive, is phase one of The Tale of a Town - St. Catharines, which is inspired by countless hours of oral histories gathered from local residents about the recent history of St. Paul Street.  The group will open a storefront space at The Foss Building at 104 St. Paul Street throughout the festival to illuminate some of the stories they've collected so far from the likes of Mayor Brian McMullan, Walter Ostanek, Kurt Swinghammer, Marilyn I. Walker and many more.  Some of the stories collected touch on some of the storied sites in St. Catharines, including the recently transplanted Art's Restaurant, the late, lamented Diana Sweets, and Jerry's Alley among others.

Also recently announced, a group from Toronto will share the stage with local youth talent at the festival on Friday evening at 7 at Robertson Hall at 85 Church Street in the Folk Arts Centre.  The three local emerging bands participating are Tyganda, Check Lester and Autumn Crush, some of whom are still in high school.  They get to share the state with Toronto's conceptual punk pioneers known as...wait for it:  "F**ked Up.  Okay.  Nice to know they can grab your attention with that name, eh?

Here is where I verify my membership in the age-old club known as Old Fogeydom.  As good as they apparently are, and as successful as they obviously have become, why do they have to use a name like that to identify the band?  I mean, what do you think of when you see that?  Exactly.  Now I know, I know, the name is just a name and all that, and look at The Barenaked Ladies years ago unable to perform at a Toronto event since the mayor of the day, June Rowlands, thought the name "Barenaked Ladies" was offensive.  What an embarrassment that turned out to be!  But still, there must have been SOME other name they thought of before settling on that one.  Hmmm, maybe they are on to something here, as they just got more electronic ink than they otherwise would have had, had they used a different name.  Okay, fine.  End of tirade on my part.  But jeezzzzz...

In the Soil kicks off April 27th and will feature over 250 artists in 15 events, and new this year is a $ 25 festival pass available for all downtown events, subject to capacity.  For more information, go to inthesoil.on.ca.

Happy Easter weekend!

April 23rd, 2011.