What a year! We’re looking forward to what 2019 will bring for the Ontario Festival of Small Halls, but also looking back with full hearts at what a wonderful ride the past year has been.

One of the highlights came early last spring, when the Ontario Festival of Small Halls earned a prestigious Small Festival of the Year Award at the Canadian Live Music Industry Awards in Toronto. Members of the industry from across Canada voted for this category and we were so thrilled to tie with the incredible Interstellar Rodeo in Edmonton.

To top it off, we were able to secure an incredible artist lineup for 2018 and you sent in more hall submissions than ever last year. After we launched in June, we broke some of our own records: six shows sold out in just a week and our original Facebook post about the lineup organically reached 50,000 people.

In 2018, we staged 41 shows in 32 venues from Westmeath to Sydenham and from Rankin to Delta. More than 5,000 attendees took in shows in the fall and surrounding the holidays with Small Halls fans travelling from British Columbia, Europe and everywhere in between to take in a show in beloved local venues. Thanks for your support of Canadian live music!

Now, we’re gearing up to spread the Small Halls love even further in 2019. Book some time off work between September 12 and 29 as we’ve already begun eyeing up halls for this year’s edition!

If you’ve been keeping a careful watch on the website, you’ll notice that hall submissions are now open. Here’s a link to find out more and take the first steps to submitting a venue. If you’re part of a keen, volunteer-based organization or association with a hall over a 200-person capacity – please consider submitting! We would love to hear from you.

In the meantime, enjoy the peace that winter brings and join our mailing list to get the inside scoop on all things Ontario Small Halls.