North Bay’s ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival is partnering with Northgate Shopping Centre to bring the first Creative Arts Market and Theatre Workshop Event to take place at the mall.
With Northgate’s support, ON THE EDGE Fringe will bring a full day of creative commerce, local artists, and fun workshops to the city.
The Creative Arts Market and Theatre Workshop Event are taking place for one day only on Saturday, March 23 starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m.
The activities will take place in the vacant unit between Bath & Body Works and Mind Games, near the food court. On one side will be the Creative Arts
Market, which will feature art displays from local photographers, writers, artists, and not-for-profits, as well as pottery, painting, prints, buttons, zines, and many more items for sale!
On the other side of the storefront ON THE EDGE Fringe has programmed free performance- based workshops for their annual Sun Dog Theatre Festival. The workshops will kick off at 10:30 a.m. with Improv for Beginners facilitated by Masha and Matthew from the Gateway Theatre Guild, followed by a short break at noon so people can grab a snack at the food court.
Starting at 12:30 p.m., Tammy Frederick, a professional vocal coach with Simply Sing Vocal Arts Studio, will lead a fun and interactive workshop that will guide participants through the process of learning how to sing a popular musical theatre song as a group; gradually adding in vocal exercises and tools that will immediately help to develop vocal abilities.
From 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. local literary reading group Conspiracy of 3 will host a session of poetry readings by local authors as well as an open mic portion where audience members will be invited to get up and share. The day’s events will wrap up with a Monologue Jam/Scene Sharing Open Mic session from 3:30 pm to 5:30 p.m. where members of the public are invited to perform monologues, songs, and short scenes.
All events are free to attend, and the workshops are intended for anyone at any level of experience. Kelsey Ruhl, ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival’s Artistic Director, is happy to be working with Northgate to coordinate the Creative Arts Market and workshops.
“We are extremely excited at this opportunity to partner with Northgate Shopping Centre to connect local artists and arts-based businesses with each other and with the community members of North Bay," said Ruhl in a release.
"This will be a great launch point and outreach opportunity for less established arts businesses, independent creators wanting to reach new markets, as well as those looking to promote themselves and unite with the arts community of North Bay. There will be something for everyone at this event, and all are welcome.”
For more information, please visit ON THE EDGE Fringe Festival’s website (www.fringenorth.com) or find them on Facebook or Instagram.
