Supercrawl
GenreMusic festival, Arts festival
DatesSecond Weekend in September
Location(s)Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Years active2009-2019, 2021-present
Attendance250,000+ (2019)[1]
275,000+ (2022)[2]
WebsiteOfficial website

Supercrawl is an annual art and indie music festival held each September in downtown Hamilton, Ontario.[3]

History

Supercrawl was founded in 2009, in the spirit of the monthly event known as Art Crawl, a walking tour of art galleries in Hamilton that is still active.[4][5]

In June 2020, festival organizers announced that they would be reconfiguring festival programming in response to logistical uncertainties around coronavirus impacts, with smaller-scale events taking place in late 2020 and early 2021.[6] In the place of the annual free street festival, organizers produced the paid, socially distanced Skytop Concert Series in September 2020[7] and the free, lakefront On The Bay concert event in September 2021.[8] Because of provincial public health restrictions in effect at the time, the former's six-concert series was limited to 100 attendees per show,[9] while the latter was capped at 15,000 attendees.[8][10] The free street festival returned in September 2022, covering 20 city blocks and attracting more than 275,000 visitors.[11]

Overview

Supercrawl features three days of free music and arts featured on-street and across multiple stages lining the length of James Street North. The festival attracts over 250,000 visitors annually to watch over 50 bands, making it one of the largest free music festivals in Ontario. Supercrawl's stages showcase a spectrum of musical styles, from pop, indie rock, electronic, soul, R&B and hip-hop, to funk, folk, blues, jazz, and orchestral.[12][13][14][15]

Supercrawl also showcases large-scale visual art installations, independent fashion, street theatre, performance art, dance, an authors' tent, an artisan market and food trucks.[16][17][18][19]

The arts festival has been cited as part of a larger, arts-based revival in Hamilton as the former industrial city becomes a regional center for the arts.[20]

In 2015, Supercrawl was named Ontario's Tourism Event of the Year as part of the Ontario Tourism Awards of Excellence[21] and was a finalist for Ontario's Tourism Event of the Year in 2019.[22] The festival also received a 2017 nomination for the Metro Toronto Convention Centre Event Of The Year from the Canadian Tourism Awards.[23]

In 2015, the organizers of Supercrawl Productions began to expand into one-off events at other times of the year, under the billing Supercrawl Presents.[24]

References

  1. ^ Rockingham, Graham (June 17, 2020). "Supercrawl cancelled for September". Hamilton Spectator.
  2. ^ "About – Supercrawl". Supercrawl. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  3. ^ Carter, Adam (September 9, 2016). "Thousands pack downtown Hamilton for Supercrawl Friday". CBC News.
  4. ^ Carter, Adam (September 13, 2018). "How Supercrawl became an arts colossus, and the symbol of downtown rebirth". CBC News.
  5. ^ Wells, Jon (September 12, 2013). "Supercrawl: Understanding its roots and why fall fairs draw us in". The Hamilton Spectator.
  6. ^ "Supercrawl Repositions 2020 Fest, Looks to 2021 – Supercrawl". June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  7. ^ Slingerland, Calum (September 3, 2020). "Hamilton's Supercrawl Announces September Rooftop Concert Series". Exclaim!.
  8. ^ a b Hudson, Alex (September 28, 2021). "Hamilton, ON's Supercrawl Announces Free 2021 Festival". Exclaim! Magazine.
  9. ^ McCarty, Emma (September 17, 2020). "Supercrawl Skytop Live Concert Series". CFMU-FM.
  10. ^ "Supercrawl organizers behind On the Bay festival offer 2 days of free music at Bayfront Park". CBC News. September 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "Supercrawl". Tourism Hamilton. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022.
  12. ^ Carter, Adam (September 10, 2016). "Recap: Rock overcomes rain at Supercrawl Saturday". CBC News.
  13. ^ Rockingham, Graham (September 10, 2019). "Music Editor Graham Rockingham's 5 must-see acts at Supercrawl". The Hamilton Spectator.
  14. ^ Rockingham, Graham (September 16, 2019). "A Supercrawl wedding. It's not about the music, it's about the street". The Hamilton Spectator.
  15. ^ "Supercrawl". Hamilton Halton Brant. Hamilton Halton Brant Regional Tourism Association. September 22, 2017.
  16. ^ Baulcomb, Andrew (September 16, 2013). "Exploring the Roots of Supercrawl, Hamilton's Best Music Festival". Noisey. Vice.
  17. ^ Rockingham, Graham (September 12, 2013). "A supersized James Street North Supercrawl". The Hamilton Spectator.
  18. ^ Carter, Adam (September 6, 2013). "10 bands to watch for at Supercrawl 2013". CBC News.
  19. ^ Werner, Kevin (November 16, 2013). "Supercrawl dreams of national exposure". Flamborough Review. Metroland Media Group. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
  20. ^ Quill, George (December 7, 2012). "Hamilton in the midst of a grassroots cultural revival". Toronto Star.
  21. ^ "Happy 10th anniversary, Supercrawl ... and thanks for the party". The Hamilton Spectator. September 17, 2018.[dead link]
  22. ^ "Finalists Announced for the 2019 Tourism Industry & Tourism Marketing and Travel Media Awards of Excellence" (Press release). Toronto, ON: Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. September 18, 2019.
  23. ^ "Supercrawl Shortlisted for Canadian Tourism Award". Supercrawl. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  24. ^ Atout, Alicia (August 12, 2015). "Review + Photos: [Supercrawl Presents] Caribou, Jamie xx, and Jessy Lanza @ Pier 4 Park – Hamilton". A Music Blog, Yea?. Retrieved October 19, 2017.

External links

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