Apply to participate in the 4th Annual Ontario Festival of Small Halls set to take place September 14-October 1, 2016. 

With a new year comes a new festival and all of the planning that comes along with it. The key to putting on concerts in intimate small halls starts with finding the right ones and even more importantly, finding the right community partners. We ask a lot of these hosts and hostesses – like helping us to sell tickets, spreading the word to their friends and neighbours, and well, anyone else willing to listen(!), setting up the hall, putting on a meal for the musicians and crew before the concert and much more. We’re truly grateful for their support and excited to share many more events together.

In terms of growth, we’re fortunate to have established a core network of halls that span across the region, from Westmeath to Chaffey’s Lock to Maxville and beyond.  This year, we plan to include nearly 10 new halls to join in the festivities this fall.  We’re looking for halls to host concerts, but it doesn’t have to stop there. This year, we’re looking for even more interesting gathering spaces where we’ll put on even more activities. Halls, churches, legions, you name it. The idea is to have many events take place that will share local culture with visitors and to celebrate it in the good company of local people.  To give an example, maybe there’s a church hall that is willing to host a community dinner before the show, or a legion that would host a workshop with a local artisan, or a schoolhouse that would host a storyteller. If your hall is interested in taking part in the festival, please get in touch! We’re always delighted to hear from those of you who might have a great idea to share.

Interested community groups who would like to apply to take part should submit their halls by clicking here and completing the submission form page. For more information on how your community can participate in September’s festivities you can email us at thefestivalofsmallhalls@gmail.com. The submission deadline is February 8th, 2017.