It’s that time of year again! Oshawa is ushering in its second annual Convergence Music & Art Festival! Rivalling art crawls, busker fests, and outdoor markets of other major cities, Oshawa’s Convergence Festival shows off our community and brings in the coolest tourists. As the streets of downtown close for the major event, check out the Convergence Festival website to find out where you can find all of the greatest attractions and one-time-only performances.
This year, there are several different zones to choose from and promenade. They include music, entertainment, ARTBLOCK, the Family Zone, Nerd Alley, Marketplace, and Street Food Alley. Local businesses are serving up some excitement as well. Visit the RMG for free on Friday, September 20, at 7 p.m. as a warm-up to the big event, where Toronto-based R&B singer/songwriter Joel Anderson will showcase his soulful musical talents. The Biltmore Theatre is also offering Epic Bingo on September 20 at 7 p.m. for a fee of $34 per person. This event supports the Golf Canada Foundation and its quest to “inspire young players to build strong core values and character while living a healthy lifestyle.” Also, to kick off the main event, the Atria Bar and Grill hosts a night of metal music performances. Come out on September 20 at 9 p.m. for “crushing riffs, intense energy, and a killer atmosphere.” The night before the festival, there are ample opportunities to meet up with old friends and make new ones.
What am I most looking forward to most about the main event on September 21? The diversity of faces that will be in the space. As a Black kid who spent the first part of my life in Toronto before moving to Durham, the experiences of being stereotyped, ostracized, and pushed to the margins are very familiar. Years of feeling like this led me to seek community, recognition, and inspiration. I found the community centres where R.I.S.E (Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere) would host open mics and poetry slams. R.I.S.E was a gathering of people of colour to share and create art, to find each other, to storytell, to see and be seen. It was a migration to the east end to find that precious and important feeling of belonging that I needed an infusion of regularly. Founded by Randell Adjei, Ontario Poet Laureate, in 2012, R.I.S.E continues to attract and produce amazing talent.
Since then, R.I.S.E has been featured in Nuit Blanche, expanding its reach and reputation to more than just the GTA. Out of sheer excitement for the festival, I took the amazing opportunity to interview Elle De Lyon, R.I.S.E Progam Director and one of the Convergence Music & Art Festival’s performers. Elle was once an audience member in 2012, during the first year of RI.S.E’s inception, and soon started volunteering to help organize R.I.S.E events. She joined the team in 2019 with a business they co-founded (Madewell Productions) as the organization’s official project management team when R.I.S.E. became a not-for-profit organization in 2021.
Elle is a Community Development Consultant, Writer, and Multidisciplinary artist with over ten years of experience organizing and directing music and media art projects, programs, events, and festivals such as Nuit Blanche, TD Black Diamond Ball, and Black Physicians of Tomorrow—STEMWORKS Mentorship Program.
The staff, collectively known as The Edutainers, are all artists in their own right and will do their thing on September 21. Elle was truly dope as she told me all about her work organizing Frequency Fridays and touring R.I.S.E’s showcases to different communities. What a homecoming for R.I.S.E. to come to Oshawa.
For me, this is what the Convergence Festival is all about: bringing communities together, giving youth the opportunity to hone their craft and showcase their talent, and representing the rich and varied flavours of art and culture. All while meeting new neighbours and befriending cool people who are doing amazing community work.
This year, R.I.S.E is coming to Oshawa, a full circle moment for me, and bringing the heat in a major way. With a primary focus on “edutainment,” R.I.S.E deliberately cultivates in its work an approach to consciousness, artistic thoughtfulness, creative expression, and “the power of community healing through art and vulnerability.” I am thrilled to see such a talented and prestigious group of heavy hitters perform for us in Oshawa and welcome us into the excellent work they have been honing for years.
This year, R.I.S.E is bringing Juno-nominated Aaron Ridge, Rachael Rose- who sang backup to Grammy winner Alicia Keys, Azalyne- who has performed on some of Canada’s biggest stages, and Sasha L Henry and the Dope Band, who have been performing for years. These artists were carefully selected to represent R.I.S.E at this year’s Convergence Festival because they all have common ground with the Durham Region. Having just seen Missy Elliott’s Out of This World Tour, where Missy herself highlighted one of her dancers, Amanda, who is from Toronto, it is clear that there is something in the water regarding this year’s crop of homegrown talent. The work R.I.S.E does is stomping ground to make it to the world’s biggest stages. The “out of this world” theme continues! Catch the R.I.S.E Anti-Gravity Stage takeover from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Sasha L Henry and the Dope Band on the Cosmic Main Stage at 5 p.m.
Not only will I be living my music dreams, but Convergence will also bring all my favourite nerd attractions. Nerd Alley features the likes of Emxeruza/Gem World, Dani Crosby Art, and Arcane Sundries, among many others. The Marketplace has promising booths from the Punk Rock Flea Market Oshawa, Jacpot Pottery, Quill & Quartz, Vicky Stoodio, Occultly Crafted, Desaray Designs, The Curvy Coffin, and so many more.
The Street Food Alley is gifting us with the presence of vendors such as Sumo Seafood, Masala Box, Eats Manilla, Slow Jams, Little Joys Whole Food Café, Zombie Dawgz n Conez, and my favourite, Island Grill. Other crowd-pleasers are Oshawa staples such as Brew Wizards Cafe and Street Momo.
I will definitely also check out the Durham Black Arts Collective. ARTBLOCK is displaying the artwork of some truly top-tier artists, including Malik McCoy (who has already exhibited at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery), Christina Leslie, Andile Gosine, and Brigitte Sampogna, a multidisciplinary artist based in Whitby.
There is so much to look forward to about this year’s Convergence Music & Art Festival. I am so pumped to be in the energy of some of the most creative minds, voices, eyes, and food experts. I hope to see you there!
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