Anyone walking into the Kinsmen Banquet Hall this past weekend would immediately have been hit with loud noise, electrifying energy and brilliant colours everywhere.
Amplify Festival, a special event targeted to youth from Grade 7 to age 21, was overwhelming and exhilarating in the same breath.
For two days every year, the hall transforms into an epic interdisciplinary mashup of youth arts, crafts, food and culture.
During Oct. 18 and 19, the Amplify Advisory Council, a volunteer committee of 15 youth, served up a cultural feast of activities, concerts and workshops. They joined forces to bring together music, dance, visual arts, theatre, spoken-word poetry, a battle of the bands and much more.
“It was an incredible year. There was so much energy and positive moments of success. And it’s a really impactful event for the artists that participated,” said Kathleen Bell, Amplify Festival associate.
For many of the participating youth artists, it was an opportunity to dip their toes in an arts showcase, discover a new skill, build confidence and add to their portfolio.
The theme this year was Explore the Uncharted and there was evidence of breaking new ground throughout the festival.
The big event Friday night was the battle of the bands titled The Show 6.0. The lineup of local bands and a solo singer vied for a prize package that included a video and a guaranteed paid spot for Amplify's 2020 Saturday night concert.
The lineup showcased roots-pop singer Rhian Sorotsky, indie-pop six-piece The Zits, the all-female a cappella King Casserole, the rock-pop sextet Redacted and instrumental band Sweatercuff.
“Redacted won. Everyone was really good and it was a hard choice. Redacted had a good stage presence and good banter. They did a couple of different things like switching up instruments and they had a fun, dancey set list,” Bell noted.
More than a battle of the bands, The Show 6.0 also embraces variety acts in between band sets. DanceCo performers and break dance crew Movementality returned to wow the packed audience.
However, organizers set the bar higher with acro-yoga performers Holding On Circus and Ivy League, the festival’s first drag queen.
“Everyone loved her. She was wonderful. A lot of our LGBTQ community felt very represented and included. That was the feedback I got. And Ivy said it was one of her favourite audiences she’d performed and she performs quite a few. It was a very enthusiastic crowd. There was a lot of hooting and hollering. She received an enthusiastic reception and there was love all around,” Bell said.
Saturday daytime brought out workshops and a various free events that ranged from tarot card reading, caricature, and tie-dying T-shirts to creating candy bouquets, decorating cookies, songwriting, and sushi making.
Daria Popa, 11, a Grade 7 student at Elmer Gish Elementary/Junior High School and a blue-belt karate competitor, decided to check out the festival with four friends.
“I’d never been and I thought it would be fun. It is fun – the activities, the arts and the people are very kind to everyone,” said Popa who happened to be decorating a cookie.
Giulia Solito, a Paul Kane High Grade 12 student, also dropped by with a friend. Making the rounds of free activities, Solito constructed a candy bouquet and asked caricaturist Simon Glassman to sketch her. Solito also visited the tarot card table.
“I was skeptical at first, but you pick out your cards. Now I’m less skeptical, but more fascinated,” Solito said.
This was the first year the festival ushered in tarot card reading with Silverius Materi, a fine arts graduate from the University of Alberta drama department. It was an extremely busy booth with non-stop lineup of curiosity seekers.
“Different ages were looking for different things,” said Materi. “The 12-, 13- and 14-year olds are trying to figure out so much that I would come up with different prompts. The older kids are closing a chapter in high school and they’re looking at steps to find success in the future. Tarot verifies what they already know. It’s a nudge that gives them permission to do the thing they want to do, but are afraid to.”
Another packed table was the candy bouquet table where visitors were given a Coke can and a plastic Slurpee lid. The plastic lid was glued to the top of the Coke can. Bright buckets full of candy were available for the taking. Using a glue gun, participants scooped up candy and cemented it to the lid. No two finished bouquets were alike. Each confection resembled hats, skirts, towers, flowers and even a space station.
Oren Bradshaw, 14, a V.J. Maloney Junior High student is into basketball, but decided to try out Amplify. Sitting comfortably at the candy bouquet table waving a glue gun he said, "It’s pretty cool. I’m doing different workshops and stations – tarot card reading, cartoon drawing and tie-dying.”
Eyra Neraasen, 16, a Paul Kane student and youth advisory committee member, has been involved with Amplify in one way or another since she was 12. As a committee member, she takes the festival seriously.
"We’re all here to help out. Because we planned the festival, it’s nice to see it come together,” said Neraasen displaying a striking miniature succulent garden she’d fashioned using plants, a palm sized house, a bird and red rocks originally designed for fish tanks.
Also a filmmaker, she is eager to share the festival's artistry with her peers. “This is all about helping young artists get out in the world. We definitely like helping people get closer to their dream.”
A stunning visual art exhibit displayed the many moods of today’s youth from Jose Sanchez Acuna’s self-portrait that borrowed elements from Picasso’s blue period to Justin Hale’s emotionally charged blood red canvas titled Release of Pain.
Avalina Zenari paid tribute to Sydney Crosby in an incredible look-alike pencil sketch of the famed hockey player while Elena Merari drew an expressive portrait of a brown-skinned woman wearing gold bangle earrings titled Mother.
There was even a poster depicting a single droplet of water and several lines of print. The social commentary read, “Protect water. We can’t drink oil.”
Saturday night morphed into a non-stop dance party with headliner hip-hop singer-songwriter Arlo Maverick and openers Cypress and Winnipeg R&B pop artist Roman Clarke. Despite the hype, the concert was slower than past years.
“But the kids that were there really enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of dancing. It was a pretty sweaty night,” laughed Bell.
Although stats are not yet available for final numbers attending, Bell calls the entire event a win for artists, participants and organizers.
“I’d really like to thank the volunteers. Some booths never got a break. They were constantly busy as people hopped from project to project. The kids really stepped up. They had a lot to learn and they worked hard all weekend. I couldn’t do it without them.”
