Artsweek 2025 Programs
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A Broader View
Artists: Caylie Staples and Victoria Yeh, with Laurel Paluck
Saturday, October 4, 7:30 pm
Heritage Pavilion Stage, on Armour Hill, 300 Hunter Street E.
Set on Armour Hill with a vista overlooking the city, A Broader View is a multi-arts concert featuring music, visual and media arts, all set at twilight. Vocalist Caylie Staples and Victoria Yeh’s string ensemble present a melodic fusion of classical, improvised and contemporary music, that brings artists and audience members together. Laurel Paluck’s lanterns light our way. A rare, memorable event that fosters a feeling of deepening connection to community.
A Dandy Lion’s Guide: How to Bloom from Rotted Roots
Artist: Sahira
Friday, October 3, 9:00pm, First Friday
Peterborough Square Courtyard, corner of Water and Charlotte Streets
Blending raw poetry, drag fierceness, decolonial, non-linear storytelling, original spell-like lyricism, and groovy queer club basslines, this Afro-Drag fusion dives deep to bare a truth about grief, addiction, and queer “surthrival”. Sahira invites you to bloom past the cracks in your concrete.
A Spider’s Tale
Artists: Nicole Malbeuf with Jeffery Cadence, Victoria Kopf, Toria Summerville and narrator/rigger/script editor Jeremy Pastic
Length 35 min.
Friday, October 3, 4:00pm and 7:00pm showings, First Friday
Parking Lot of New Canadians Centre, 221 Romaine St ** NEW LOCATION !
Imagine a cabaret of insects performing physical theatre, aerial arts, vertical dance, hair suspension, and contortion on an aerial rig covered by a giant spider web. This spectacular piece captures the lives, trials and tribulations of insects. Inspired by Richard Mabey’s “A Cabaret of Plants,” and narrated by a stick bug, the show features a dragon fly, house flies and of course an orb-weaver spider. Circus arts at its best!
Blues in the Bottle
Artists: David Tough and the Blues in the Bottle Band
Sunday, September 28, 3:00pm
Millennium Park, 270 Water Street
Tuesday, September 30, 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Rotary Park, 100 Hazlitt Street
Also reachable via the London Street Foot Bridge
Wednesday, October 1, 11:00am
Bluestreak Records, 394 George Street N.
Wednesday, October 1, 2:00pm
By the Books, 384 Water Street
This delightful 4-piece jug band Blues in the Bottle, tumbles out of traditional music venues and onto the streets. Riffing cleverly from the age-old tradition of busking, this group spotlights the kazoo, jug, washboard, and washtub bass. Musicians can always be slightly dangerous purveyors of joy, but a potentially powerful threat to the current social order. Contemporary jug bands like Blues in theBottle reflect the original and revivalist approach. Gloriously out of place, jug band music maintains its power to surprise people and connect them.
Hot Spots
An Artsweek tradition now, Hot Spots shines a light on some of Peterborough’s best, if sometimes overlooked, performing artists. Curated by the inimitable Zwena Gray, this eclectic lineup will liven up your lunch hour like nothing else could!
Performances at noon each day from September 29 to October 3
Peterborough Square, corner of Water and Charlotte Streets
Monday, September 29: Solo Set
Beau Dixon (Singer, Songwriter)
Tuesday, September 30: Two Sets
Niles Baby (Afrobeats), first set
DJ Flaco (Lyricist, DJ), second set
Wednesday, October 1: Solo Set
Yousra (Folk Singer, Songwriter)
Thursday, October 2: Solo Set
Destiny Cardinal (Fancy Shawl Powwow Dancer)
Friday, October 3: Two Sets
Enoka Kawuma (Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist), first set
Ayinde Skerritt- Williams (Singer, Songwriter), second set
Nitaawigi
Artist: Josh Morley
Tuesday, September 30, 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Rotary Park, 100 Hazlitt Street
Also reachable via the London Street Foot Bridge
Saturday, October 4, 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Rotary Park, 100 Hazlitt Street
Also reachable via the London Street Foot Bridge
Nitaawigi, meaning s/he grows in Anishinaabemowin, reflects on the artist’s personal journey to better understand his culture and traditional Indigenous knowledge. A journey he captures in a series of paintings on a grand scale —up to ten-feet wide— that make a powerful statement as they occupy these urban parks.
Meet the artist: Josh will be present throughout to talk about the work and answer questions.
Porchapalooza
Take a tour of five verandas in the Teacher’s College neighbourhood and savour a movable feast of live music. Curated by Hank and Kristine Fisher. RAIN OR SHINE!
Sunday September 28, 1:00 – 5:30pm
Three tours to choose from, starting at 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm.Guided tours begin at 137 Benson Ave. Take a tour or just drop by any of these porches on your own:
137 Benson Ave. Joslynn Burford (Soul & Blues)
186 Aberdeen Ave. Tyson & Bex (Folk)
209 Aberdeen Ave. Mudfish (Old Country duo)
779 Aylmer St. Jeanne Truax (Roots Rockabilly duo)
793 Aylmer St. The Space Heaters (Folk Country 4-piece)
Radio on the Go – Arts Edition CFFF, 92.7 FM
Presented by Trent Radio 92.7 FM
Join Trent Radio (92.7 FM) for four live, remote broadcasts at locations in downtown Peterborough and at Trent University’s Symons campus. Each broadcast features a collaboration between a Trent student and local artist, creating original audio art pieces using performance, poetry, music, literature or sound art. Witness the magic in person, tune into 92.7 FM, or stream online at www.trentradio.ca.
All events except the first are open to the public to attend in person. The schedule is:
Monday, September 29 @ 11:00am
Trent University President Cathy Bruce’s Office with Leighla Foster & Parker Farris (musician) (Not open to the public, please listen on the radio or online.)
Monday, September 29 @ 2:00pm
Seasoned Spoon at Trent University with Sadye Middleton & Sarah Lewis (poet)
Wednesday, October 1 @ 11:00am
Bluestreak Records, 394 George St. N. with Dave King & Kate Story (artist)
Wednesday, October 1 @ 2:00pm
By the Books PTBO, 384 Water St. N. with Ty McKeen & David Grenon (composer)
Solace for the Spirit
Artists: Tori Owen (Music Director), Hollow Woods Recorder Consort
An outdoor tour of haunted spaces, bringing words and music of remembrance to entertain and comfort both audience members and the spirits who remain. The 13-member Hollow Woods Recorder Consort and guests will perform at all three sites identified as haunted through stories and supported by history. Listen to the spirits’ tales at each site and hear music germane to the time and place of their passing.
Monday, September 29, noon
The Jail Park at the Peterborough County Courthouse
The Peterborough County Heritage Jail Park is the first stop on the Solace for Spirit tour, featuring musician & storyteller, Ken Arndt with a monologue of a depression-era busking inmate who will perform the tongue-in cheek “Johnston’s Hotel” with the Hollow Woods Recorder Consort. Join them for other tales of the jail’s dark history and music to entertain and console the spirits who remain.
Friday, October 3, 5:30pm, First Friday
The Lift Lock, 354 Hunter Street E, west side of lock
The second stop on the Solace for Spirit tour is at the historic Peterborough Liftlock, rumoured to be haunted by eight ghosts! The Hollow Woods Recorder Consort will be joined by Parks Canada staff with some tales of the unusual activity experienced there. Audience members living or dead will enjoy music selections contemporary to spirits of the site as well as works to entertain and console.
Sunday, October 5, 1:00pm
Under the Hunter Street Bridge on Steve Terry Way
Audience members are invited to the tour finale of Solace for Spirit at the base of Hunter Street Bridge. The Hollow Woods Recorder Consort and featured guest Al Kirby will explore this crossroads of historical activity ranging from suicides to tragic drownings and the Quaker Factory explosion. Audience members living or dead will enjoy music selections contemporary to spirits of the site as well as works to entertain and console, including the famous “Log-Driver’s Waltz.”
Stab & Gab Felting Workshop
Artist: Melissa Wilson
Thursday, October 2, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Silver Bean Cafe, 130 King Street
An intimate felting workshop providing a safe space for people experiencing cancer (diagnosis, treatment, remission, living with cancer). As a cancer survivor, Melissa found the slow, careful and mindful stabbing action that felting requires, cathartic. The artist hopes others experiencing cancer will feel the same way.
Preregistration is required to attend. If you are someone experiencing cancer, please register on Eventbrite. Participants have the option of using their own hair. Insert Eventbrite info here:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/stab-gab-felting-workshop-tickets-1703018045819?aff=oddtdtcreator
Take-Out Poetry Cart
Artists: A rotating all-star line-up of area poets including Sarah Lewis, Thamer Linklater, Amal Osman, Ziysah von Bieberstein and more to come. Step right up to the handmade, bicycle-pulled Poetry Cart, where an array of talented writers will write a poem just for you, tapping it out on a classic manual typewriter. Whether you request a Shakespearean sonnet, a vengeful haiku, or a tragic ode, you are guaranteed to walk away with a unique work of spontaneous art.
Sunday, September 28, 3:00pm
Millennium Park, 270 Water Street
Wednesday October 1, 10:00pm – 12:00pm
Downtown Farmer’s Market, 219 Charlotte Street
Wednesday October 1,12:45pm – 2:45pm
Water Street between Charlotte and Hunter Streets
Terra Precarium
Artist: Garrett Gilbart
Tuesday, September 30, 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Rotary Park, 100 Hazlitt Street
Also reachable via the London Street Foot Bridge
Saturday, October 4, 4:00pm – 7:30pm.
Rotary Park, 100 Hazlitt Street
Also reachable via the London Street Foot Bridge
Exquisite sculptural elements, inspired by the intricate structures of lichen, are carved from paintings onto salvaged steel, and installed in parks. Dynamically illuminated, and outfitted with microphones, motors and sensors, the forms become instruments that respond to subtle movement, proximity, and touch—a live sound performance that unfolds over several hours. The work draws on lichen’s ability to survive in inhospitable environments and its role as a bioindicator of industrial pollution while reflecting questions around industrial decay, nature, and the process of resilience.
Meet the artist: Garrett will be present throughout to talk about the work and answer questions.
The Auction
Artists: Kim Blackwell (writer/director) with Lindsay Wilson and Stew Granger.
Length: 55 min.
Friday, October 3, noon and 3:00pm, First Friday
My Storage Peterborough, 810 Technology Drive
Saturday, October 4, 11:00am and 2:00pm
My Storage Peterborough, 810 Technology Drive
The Auction is a play exploring the breakable and unbreakable bonds in daughter-father relationships, the mental trauma associated with helping aging parents divest themselves of a lifetime of “stuff”, and the presence of nuclear power in Canada. Set against the soundtrack of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and staged inside a real storage unit, The Auction is part confession, part ritual, and part absurd comedy—an intimate performance that offers a deeper understanding of what we demand to hold onto, and why.
You must reserve your ticket in advance for this limited capacity show. Reserve on the Eventbrite.
The Soul Buffet
Artists: Peterborough Poetry Slam Invitational
Sunday, October 5, 2:00pm
Peterborough Square, corner of Water and Charlotte Streets
The Soul Buffet celebrates Black culture, food and the oral traditions of spoken word within the Black community. Featuring prominent BIPOC artists and artists who are allies—curated by “EJ” Jenkins. The event includes performances by Lillian Allen, Sam Banton, Jon Hedderwick, and more, with guests Sarah Lewis and Ziysah von Bieberstein. A BIPOC Open Mic, where emerging and established poets can share their work, and a family-inspired cookout round out the affair.
ArtsweekPLUS
Peterborough has a vibrant and diverse arts community. Check out the ArtsweekPLUS page and see many of the other arts events taking place around the city during Artsweek – as they do all year round.