2025 ArtsEverywhere Festival Program

May 2 – 4, 2025 | Guelph, Ontario

The schedule has just been announced for the 2025 ArtsEverywhere Festival happening from May 2nd to 4th in Guelph, Ontario. This long-running celebration of work being done at the intersection of arts and social justice will be presenting performances, screenings, conversations, workshops, and music in venues across the city.

At the opening night’s event, attendees at this year’s Guelph Lecture—On Being will be treated to a literary reading from novelist and humourist Drew Hayden Taylor, a dazzling music set from Juno-nominated Canadian songstress LU KALA, and a keynote conversation with celebrated cultural critics Vanessa Andreotti and Báyò Akómoláfé titled “Meeting the End of the World as We Know It.” Tickets are available now through the River Run box office.

Saturday’s programming opens with a rare opportunity to see the short films of Bolivian filmmaker Miguel Hilari, who will be coming to Canada to present his work. In the afternoon Bolivian activist Yola Mamani and members of Toronto’s Kwentong Bayan Collective will discuss care labour’s relationship to BIPOC communities, and artist sophia bartholomew will be in conversation with curator Elwood Jimmy about plant medicines, seeding, and caring for Guelph’s Mike MacDonald garden.

The Big Ideas in Art & Culture Lecture will be delivered by curator and community organizer Wanda Nanibush, who is the founding director of aabaakwad, an international yearly gathering of over 80 Indigenous curators, writers and artists. Following the Big Ideas lecture, curator Taqralik Partridge presents three international poets in conversation and performance: Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Stephen James Smith, and Melissa Shaginoff. The evening will close with a high energy performance from ROSINA, the new collaborative project bringing together electronic music producer Nicholas Murray, drag performer and multidisciplinary artist Franny Galore-Wingz, and producer, vocalist and poet Rosina Kazi, in a blend of Techno, House, Hip Hop, and global rhythms inspired by Toronto’s diversity.

Ariel William Orah and Pedro Oliveira. Photo: Hani Hamza

Sunday at the festival will feature two immersive sonic events that aim to foster community building through shared experience, programmed by Anna Bowen. In the afternoon artist and composer Anne Bourne will lead a choral workshop and gathering where participation stems from Deep Listening practice and the Sonic text scores of Pauline Oliveros, standing by artist/osteopath Lesley Greco, as well as sound interventions by composer/percussionist germaine liu (co-presented by IICSI). The festival’s closing event is hosted by Berlin-based Indonesian artist and community organizer Ariel William Orah, in collaboration with long-time colleague Pedro Oliveira and accomplished improvisor Karen Ng. This “empathy supper” co-presented by 10C Shared Space invites participants into an immersive exploration of pressing questions about trust and community through sound, listening, conversation, food preparation, and meal sharing.

Full festival details can be found on our website. The festival places priority on belonging and safety, extending our reach to community partners in their understanding of inclusion and equity. Thank you to our new and returning volunteers, sponsors, donors and community partners for promoting and supporting this important festival for our time. For updates and future events follow the festival on: Facebook | Instagram

Presented by Musagetes and the Eramosa Institute
For more information contact: info@musagetes.ca

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