and post-show talks for elementary and secondary school students when the subject is suitable. This close contact with the artists who work together to put on a production exposes students to the broad scope of performing arts and perhaps a peek at future careers.
The Alternative Theatre Works’ performing spaces, The Hall and Factory163, are intimate. No matter where you sit, you are close to the actors. The dialogue, the movement, and the storytelling easily become personal.
APPETITE FOR WORDS
SEASON: Fall
LOCATION: Various locations around Stratford
WEBSITE: www.stratfordwritersfestival.com
HIGHLIGHT: Meet chef authors and food writers and taste their literary dishes
Every October, the Stratford Writers Festival partners with the Stratford Chefs School to feature authors who have written about food or who employ food as a strong component in their novels. Chefs at the Chefs School create dishes inspired by the featured artists’ books. Like dessert at the end of a wonderful meal, Appetite for Words, a literary festival with a culinary twist, takes place during the last three days of the Stratford Writers Festival.
As an attendee, you can meet and mingle with the authors, taste the food that plays such an important role in their stories, and discuss recipes with the chefs. In addition to literary dinners at the Stratford Chefs School, the Appetite for Words menu also includes meals at Stratford restaurants and rural repasts that showcase the farm-to-table movement in Stratford’s surrounding Perth County.
Food-writing workshops and tasting sessions during the festival will stimulate your culinary and literary taste buds.
ART IN THE PARK
SEASON: Spring, Summer, Fall
LOCATION: Lakeside Drive between Front and North Streets, just steps from the Avon River
WEBSITE: www.artintheparkstratford.ca/
HIGHLIGHT: View original, juried Canadian works of art in an outdoor Stratford space
What better space for an open-air art show than a tree-lined setting on grass near the walking path along the Avon River? Art in the Park is probably the oldest-running art show in Canada. The first exhibition was held in 1968. All the artists are Canadian residents personally showing their original works. Artists’ pieces are judged prior to being accepted for inclusion in the show. The quality of the work is high. Art appreciators and art lovers looking for new acquisitions return year after year from all around the world.
Houses on the opposite shore reflect in the water and curious swans drift by as you wander between the easels and around the tables. From one artist’s display to another, you’ll find that everyone is friendly, welcoming, and willing to answer questions. Sculptors, painters, photographers, leathermakers, woodworkers, jewellers, clay and glass artists, printmakers, and others happily talk about their medium and their techniques. You are quite likely to come across unique pieces like pastel paintings of head coverings from past productions of the Stratford Festival or folk harps shaped out of traditional materials. Whether shopping or browsing, Art in the Park will add one more dimension to your visit to Stratford.
Showings are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from Victoria Day weekend in May until the last Sunday in September, weather permitting.
CULTURE DAYS
SEASON: Fall
LOCATION: Multiple venues around Stratford
WEBSITE: www.culturedays.ca/
HIGHLIGHT: Experience Stratford’s cultural talent
Culture Days are celebrated annually across Canada for three days from the last Friday of September through the following weekend. The goal is to have every Canadian love culture. From morning until night, volunteers run free public events to raise awareness, provide accessibility, and encourage participation in all forms of arts and culture in their communities. Each year, Canadian communities bring a different mix to the smorgasbord of cultural choices.
In Stratford, over forty different events might include art shows, theatre classes, ballet classes, puppet workshops, readings, dance and musical performances, walking tours, photography, or Stratford Festival workshops. The Stratford Symphony, art galleries, theatres, library, and museums all take part.
If you are a writer, composer, designer, painter, sculptor, performer, singer, dancer, musician, or any other type of artist, Culture Days provides a platform for you to showcase your work. If you are not an artist, Culture Days is an opportunity to participate in artistic activities, learn a new craft, talk to an artist, or try an art form you have always wanted to experience. If you are not a hands-on kind of person, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the myriad cultural happenings in the community.
EXPECT THE EXTRAORDINARY
SEASON: Fall
LOCATION: 55 Queen Street, Stratford Festival Theatre
WEBSITE: www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/LeasedEvents/PAL
HIGHLIGHT: An evening of entertainment created by the professional artists of Stratford
Expect the Extraordinary, ETE for short, is an annual fundraising event for Performing Arts Lodge (PAL) Stratford, a charitable organization that provides affordable housing and assistance to professional artists fifty-five years of age and older. Actors; prop-makers; set, lighting, and sound designers; composers and writers; and anyone else who has devoted their life to a profession in the arts of all genres can benefit from PAL.
In the fall each year, for one special night, a Stratford Festival stage comes alive with energy, generosity, and creativity. A volunteer group of company members of the Stratford Festival, along with special guests, donate their time and talents. Backstage crew members and Festival staff members pitch in to bring it all together. “These people are our heroes,” says Arlene Jillard, PAL Board of Directors.
Each Expect the Extraordinary production is titled with a theme. In 2019, it was “The PAL Kitchen Party.” In 2018 it was “He’s Our Man: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen.” In 2017, it was “All You Need Is Love … and The Beatles.” The person who volunteers as artistic director is responsible for creating and hosting the show.
Before the show and during intermission, there is a silent auction with items provided by theatrical professionals, local businesses, and supporters. It is an opportunity to pick up one-of-a-kind Stratford Festival treasures. If you are lucky, you’ll bid on and win a cast-signed poster from one of the season’s shows.
HMS RAZZAMAJAZZ
SEASON: Summer, Fall
LOCATION: