SCHEDULE

FESTIVAL MAP

SMALL WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

July 7-9, 2023 | Trillium Park, Ontario Place
FREE ADMISSION

CELEBRATING DIVERSE SOUNDS

We’re thrilled to announce that the Small World Music Festival 2023 is back and taking place in the summer with lakeside views. 

Join us July 7th - 9th at Trillium Park for a FREE, outdoor, family-friendly community celebration. It will be an unforgettable weekend of music, food, dance, crafts and lots more.The Festival continues Small World’s 25-year tradition of showcasing talented artists from around the world and around the corner. 

Get ready for a 3-day line-up of music on stage and throughout the park, hands-on workshops for all ages, delicious food and drinks, and a creative kids’ program.

P.S. Furry-friends are also welcome!

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

ACTIVITIES, WORKSHOPS AND VENDORS

Crafts and Activities
We have a crafts and activities zone where you can make your own instruments, puppets, and windsocks or contribute to a communal drawing.

Amadou Kienou: Drum Workshop
Join us Saturday July 8th at 3:30 pm for a free, hands-on rhythmic intensive with master drummer Amadou Kienou!


Feel the beat as you explore djembe and other West African drums under the leadership of one of the city’s preeminent players.
Originally from Burkina Faso, Amadou was initiated as a djeli or griot (oral historian), one of a long line whose role is to preserve and transmit their people's history, culture, and values. Spend an hour learning from the best!


Registration is required. Drums will be provided for the first twenty registrants, but you're welcome to bring your own!

MiniPong
MiniPong is REDUCED size ping-pong. Portable and Versatile, miniPong makes any space a PLAY experience.

Sunshine Smoothies
Sunshine Smoothies is a small independent business for over 25 years. They offer All Natural Non Dairy Smoothie using all fresh produce.

Expect to experience one of the best smoothie you have ever tried.

Ricks Good Eats
Rick’s Good Eats is home style Punjabi-Canadian cuisine, always with a fusion twist. Small batches, handmade, fresh ingredients, bold flavours.

Famous for Gourmet Samosas, Butter Chicken Loaded Fries, Tandoori Fried Chicken and more!

Golden Grill
Authentic & Original Korean Street Cuisine

ARTISTS

With a style inspired by haunting northern beauty, sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik are Inuit throat singers from Arctic Canada who blend their ancient traditional form with contemporary technology to create haunting soundscapes and improvisational compositions that change with every show.

Sangjaru's tour is supported by the Korean Traditional Performing Arts Foundation, Korean Cultural Centre Canada, and Korea Culture Scene.


Sangjaru is a captivating Korean folk fusion band that merges the energy of traditional Korean music with the infectious rhythms of gypsy swing, funk, rock, and improvisation. The name derives from two Korean words, ‘sangja’ (box) and ‘jaru’ (sack). While a box has a fixed shape, a sack adapts to the contents it carries. The band draws inspiration from this concept, aiming to infuse new creativity into the rich traditions of Korean music. Through a blend of diverse musical influences, Sangjaru creates innovative cultural expressions that are both unique and exciting.

Co-presented by

Meesha Shafi is a celebrated, award-winning Pakistani-Canadian artist known for her modeling, acting, music and feminist activism over the course of an illustrious career that has spanned twenty-one years so far. Her avant-garde art has gained her recognition from fans and critics across the globe while her trailblazing fight for women's rights has established her as an inspiration for girls in Pakistan and diaspora communities abroad.
Shafi continues to make serious waves worldwide with her record breaking hits on subsequent seasons of Coke Studio as well as her own singles.
Her captivating onstage charisma has taken her around the world to tour live in countries like the UK, Canada, India, Norway, UAE and China among many others. Enjoying millions of listeners worldwide and praise from critics, Shafi has been able to establish herself as a veteran of the music industry.

Born in Recife, Brazil, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and educator Lara Klaus explores her art by playing different combinations of Brazilian percussion and drums, as well as guitar and vocals. Her music is an ode to her culture, mixing latin, soul and jazz music, while bringing fire to the stage

Born and raised in South-Central Trinidad, John Orpheus is a multi-cultural musical artist and published author. He combines hip-hop swagger, Afrobeat energy and dancehall rhythms to create a sound built on big catchy hooks. John is known for his rabble-rousing live shows filled with audience participation, chanting and impromptu dance-offs. He will be releasing a new EP in 2023.

Saba Zameni is a versatile and charismatic singer as comfortable in Persian traditional music as she is in contemporary jazz, with a voice capable of great beauty and power. beatmap explores the intersection of diverse musical forms, drawing on roots in funk, rock and jazz, merged with Persian, Latin and African rhythms.
Selçuk Suna is a master woodwind player mixing Turkish music with jazz and funk, blending different worlds and different eras in time. Saba’s soaring voice and captivating stage presence, with beatmap's driving grooves and Selçuk’s nuanced winds offer a set ranging from Persian poetry to dance floor rockers.

Stepping into Valérie Ekoumè's world will be one of the most interesting and fulfilling experience you may have. In her colourful world, Love is King and AfroPop is the music she chooses to express it.

After DJAALÉ in 2015, her second opus KWIN NA KINGUE released in November 2017 has been acclaimed by the press and the public. As matter of fact it entered RFI’s TOP 10 African/ World Music album for 2017.
This project enabled the AfroPop singer to tour Europe and North America in such famous festival as Celtics Connection in 2020, the Festival International des
Nuits d’Afrique or even SunFest in Canada, not only for shows but also presenting workshop as sharing African culture with the audience is one of her main goal.

MONÈ MONÈ the third project will be released in 2021, in this new album, and with the help of Guy NWOGANG, Valérie EKOUME digs deeper into her Cameroonians roots, the result is Assiko or even Essèwè which are popular rhythms from Cameroun. So get ready to dance !

Part of Small World’s Asian Music Showcase, curated by Janice Jo Lee.

Anh Phung takes the flute to space, combining it with the sounds of effect pedals and an MPC1000. In 2020, Phung developed tenosynovitis in her arm and shoulder and had to take a break from the flute. She purchased an MPC in order to make music while rehabilitating her arm. Sampling the music of her friends and heroes, Phung created beats as a canvas for her to lay her flute atop. She is known for her unique flute sound that has been featured on numerous records and performances of all sorts of musical genres.

Polish acoustic punk and street folk, infused with the rage of the working class –  Hańba! travels through a divided 1930s Poland in concept work that imagines Punk emerging in this frenetic period. The uncertainty of interwar Europe, channelled through Punk, is a bizarre but intriguing concept. The result is a rousing, rebellious sound to the rich culture of a hectic era. Polish poets such as Julian Tuwim deliver the words in a bold Buzzcocks-Esque vocal style. Banjo and accordion replace guitars, and pulsing tuba stands for bass.

Rosary Spence, Sintayehu Zenebe, Amalia Townsend, Manitou Mkwa Singers, Lia Grainger, Tamar Ilana, Cotee Harper, Tyler Emond, Anh Phung, Benjamin Barrile, Derek Gray, Jessica Deutsch, Emily Steinwall, Tara Kannangara, Aline Morales & Maracatu Baque de Bamba, Indigenous traditional singers and dancers

Presented by

FabCollab presents Women in Song: featuring powerful vocalists Rosary Spence (traditional Indigenous), Sintayehu Zenebe (contemporary Ethiopian), Amalia Townsend (jazz/soul singer), sensational dances by Lia Grainger and Tamar Ilana (flamenco), Cotee Harper (Fancy Shawl), and more, and music from jazz instrumentalists Emily Steinwall (saxophone), Anh Phung (flute), and to round off, raucous Brazilian beats by Aline Morales & Maracatu Baque de Bamba. All acts will be backed by members of award-winning house band Ventanas; Tyler Emond (MD/bass), Benjamin Barrile (guitar), Derek Gray (drums), Jessica Deutsch (violin).

 

A unique DJ Bicycle Sound System bringing 3500 watts of sunshine sound to the streets of Toronto! Built by DJ General Eclectic.

 

Only having hit the streets in June 2022, Trash Panda Brass is a new and exciting voice in the Toronto brass band scene. They’ve quickly gained a large following, performing multiple shows at Drom Taberna, opening for the iconic Shuffle Demons and playing in various community events, all within the first six months of conception.Trash Panda is known for their upbeat and fun loving tunes, paying homage to quintessential queer hits and icons. Trash Panda Brass is proud to be here and queer!

Coletivo Baque Semente, led by Brazilian percussionist Mari Palhares, brings the rhythms and movement of the Maracatu the baque virado. Infectious energy and driving rhythms are the trademark of this community marching band, who have delighted crowds across the city.

FAQs

The Small World Music Festival is being held at Trillium Park, Ontario Place in downtown Toronto. 955 Lake Shore Blvd W, Toronto, ON M6K 3B9.

The good folks at Ontario Place have the lowdown on getting to the site. Visit them here.

Yes the site is accessible. As an Agency of the Government of Ontario, Ontario Place is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA): dignity, independence, integration, and equal opportunity. For more info visit them here.

You sure can! If you are interested in volunteering for the festival, please fill out this form.

The Small World Music Festival is open to, and welcoming of, audiences of all ages. There will be family-friendly activities, as well as a pavilion for alcoholic drinks open only to those 19 years of age and older.

The SWMFest is a pet-friendly event. Please be considerate, and leash your dogs, and be aware of the folks around you.

We’ll have a selection of vendors who will be offering a variety of food and beverages for purchase. We highly recommend that you bring your own water for the day.

Volunteers will be onsite at the Festival ready to take your donations. You can also donate today!

The site will include a pavilion where alcoholic beverages will be sold.

There are several washrooms at Ontario Place. Accessible washrooms are available too.

Small World Music is unable to receive cash payments. Please prepare by bringing debit and/or credit cards.

We’ll get wet! The Small World Music Festival will take place rain or shine. Please check the forecast before attending so you can prepare to be comfortable.

The festival site is open at the following times:

Friday July 7: 6-10pm

Sat July 8: 1-10pm

Sun July 9: 1-6pm

There is no wifi at the festival site

Please see Small World Music’s Anti-Harassment and Anti-Oppression Policy, which we expect audiences to abide by at the Festival.

PRESENTING PARTNERS

MEDIA PARTNERS

We gratefully acknowledge the following Funders:

PAST EDITIONS

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2017