Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie slated to electrify at Chan Centre’s new festival, Come Toward the Fire, on September 18, 2022

On September 17 and 18, 2022, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, in collaboration with the Musqueam, will join forces in the presentation of Come Toward the Fire, a new, two-day multidisciplinary arts festival with a special Indigenous focus. The event will be a festival-style concert and gathering presented just days prior to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, celebrating Indigenous talent, creativity and resilience. As a performance series and a community event, Come Toward the Fire will offer a timely means for audiences from all walks of life to feel connection and inspiration in equal measure. Come Toward the Fire has received support from the Live Music program at Amplify BC.

Thanks to this investment, all daytime Festival activities on the Saturday will be free. They will feature Musqueam community presentations that highlight weaving, canoeing, and historical methods of gathering, preparing, storing, and serving traditional Musqueam fare. There will be music and dance performances from artists such as PIQSIQ, Julian Taylor, Lady Sinncere, and Indigenous Enterprise, as well as a variety of vendors and food trucks. The event will also feature an outdoor documentary screening of Stories from Musqueam, originally curated by the Belkin Gallery. The Saturday evening segment will feature over a dozen artists and groups performing at the historic Chan Shun Hall; here also, admission will be offered free of charge to all Indigenous community members.  

The weekend will conclude on the Sunday evening at the Chan Centre. In a culmination to the weekend’s proceedings, this storied and iconic venue will host legendary Indigenous icon and musical star Buffy Sainte-Marie in what is sure to be an electrifying performance that will send audiences home with stories and songs in their heads and hearts.

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