A new festival is coming to life at Walpole Island this weekend for what’s being called a medicine of music.
The free two-day event kicks off at Highbanks Park on Friday at 4:00 p.m. and will continue on until 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Indigenous artists and performers will be playing throughout both days including Six Nations own Logan Staats, winner of CTV’s The Launch and popularly known for his single The Lucky Ones.
Festival organizer Romaine Peters says the vision to host the event came to her while listening to music by Indigenous artists during the pandemic.
“We definitely can use music for our own healing and that’s what I used during the pandemic,” says Peters. “That’s why I think it [the festival] popped into my head because we can use music as part of our own healing especially when there’s times that we feel alone.”
The festival location harks back to where the Three Fires Confederacy conducted their meetings. Peters looks forward to bringing energy back to the historic location.
“Bringing those vibrations back to that area brings that healing into all of us as Indigenous people in Bkejwanong. Not only us, but taking in consideration all of our surrounding communities. That’s why this event is free to attend because its about bringing us all back together.” Says Peters.
Organizers hope to continue the family friendly event annually to become a regular occurrence.
The festival is due to end just days before National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.
