Downie/Wenjack Legacy Space and Events at Festival Hall

10/24/2023

Saturday night we welcome Susan Aglukark www.festhall.ca

10/19/2023

Please join us October 28. We are blessed to be joined by Susan Aglukark and Josee Bourgois. Tickets www.festhall.ca. Do something.

“Chanie

Chanie Wenjack. Say his name.

Chanie’s body was described in the papers following his death as grey and thin. Even in the most recognizable photo of him smiling and leaning against a wall, we see him in black and white only. We remember him without colour, lacking vibrancy, his life taken.

But Chanie did live. He lived and ran and laughed in a full spectrum of energetic colours and experiences, like any little boy would. He ran so hard to escape the dark place that stole the life and colour of all our children.

We remember him. We remember them.

While their bodies lay in the dark corners that haunt us today, their spirits soar high in all of their playful innocence.

We remember them.

We remember him.

Fly high Chanie.”

Artwork by Blake Angeconeb
Poem by Danielle H. Morrison

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This , we invite you to honour Chanie Wenjack’s legacy by sharing this new portrait to raise awareness for our true history.

09/30/2023

Today we remember. To show your support please attend our event October 28. Tickets www.festhall.ca

09/25/2023

Please watch! And don’t forget to buy tickets to a very special evening Oct 28 featuring Susan Aglukark and Josee Bourgois www.festhall.ca

08/26/2023

Six years ago ❤️
Our annual Downie Wenjack event featuring Susan Aglukark and Josee Bourgeois takes place Oct 28. Tickets www.festhall.ca. Have a listen. This is why we do this.

06/21/2023

05/12/2023

We are so excited to announce that Josee will be joining us as a special guest along with Susan Aglukark in October!

Josee Bourgeois is a registered member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nations. Although Josee grew up in Toronto and lived the first half of her life as an urban native, she has spent the last 15 years living on 3 different reservations in Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario, raising her 13-year-old son, Little Thunder Bear.
Since 2015 Josee has become very well known in the unsurrendered territory of the Ottawa Valley as a multi disciplined, self taught dancer who has spent the last few years exploring new mediums of movement and storytelling through dance and theatre.
What began as a journey of creating presence at major Ottawa events, Josee has unexpectedly turned into a part time career with the ability to create larger scale productions and visions as years pass on. Using her ability to command center stage attention while revealing difficult truths and secrets of the intergenerational traumas that plague her ancestry and existence thus far. Josee, is set on one day continuing her path of unraveling the next layer of stories needing to be told.
Josee is extremely proud of the work she has created and produced with the support of prestigious institutions and performing arts organizations, and fellow artist friends in the industry. Highlights of her career so far include, 2023 -Banff Center 2023 Indigenous Dramaturgies exchange, 2021-2022, National Arts Center, visiting dance artist in residence, The Sickness. Ottawa Blues Fest land Acknowledgment opening for The Backstreet Boys, 2019. National Art Center productions, Indigenous theatre, Mura Buai, French theatre, Gabriel Dumont- Wild West Story, English Theatre Big Bang Festival, Nomad- Mushkiki Nibi.
It's important to mention that Josee’s movement journey began with connecting to Pow wow dancing, Fancy shawl, Jingle dress dancing at the age of 23. Over that past decade as she has grown as a self-directed artist, Josee has begun a unpacking a new journey as an act of reclamation and decolonization of Indigenous sensuality

03/26/2023

So excited that we at The Epiphany Foundation for the Performing Srts are finally presenting our second annual Legacy Event! Please contact us if you are interested in becoming a volunteer or sponsor. We are also hosting a free event for Renfrew County students that week, featuring a screening of the movie The Secret Path. When we had our first event we welcomed 1000 students!

Tickets www.festhall.ca
Sponsorship inquiries [email protected]

We welcome Mary Chartrand and Larissa Kelley who are helping to spearhead this event!

10/18/2022

🙏🏻 five years yesterday since the Man who Walks Among the Stars went home

10/14/2022

Did you know we had to cancel our annual Downie Wenjwck event this year due to lack of interest and volunteers? Now more than ever we need to do better! As Gord said, Do Something. Currently looking for a passionate person to liaise with local school boards, college and students for our free Secret Path days, a leader to assemble a team of passionate volunteers, fundraisers, Pikwakanagan First Nation liaison and assistance with our event scheduled for October 23, 2023. Expenses and per diems paid. Perfect for students looking for volunteer hours and to build their resume. Please send an email and tell us a bit about yourself, your ideas and expectations. This may lead to a part time paid position and a full time Canada Summer Jobs (under 30) four month contract. Must be able to work both independently and as part of a team. Email [email protected]

09/30/2022

We regret to announce our scheduled Downie Wenjack Legacy reconciliation event has been cancelled due to lack of interest, funding and sponsors. We are very disappointed and it proves we must do better to bring the important issues to light. What makes this more difficult is that we are near Pikwakanagwan and are located near the shore of the Kitchissippi river on the traditional Algonquin territory. If you’d like to get involved for next year’s event or are willing to sponsor please reach out. We’ve offered free events for Renfrew County students also. Teachers and employees of all school boards, you have a mandate to teach indigenous studies. Please message us if you’d like to get involved for next year. At our last event pre covid in 2019 we had survivors, drummers, dancers, singers, etc. it was an amazing evening. Let’s do it again in 2023!!

04/20/2022

Sixty years after he ran away from a Kenora residential school, a survivor is hoping to reunite with the woman who helped him decades ago.

02/06/2022

Today, on what would have been Gord Downie's 58th birthday, we are taking time to honour his legacy and celebrate his life. During his final years, Gord dedicated himself to sharing the true history of residential schools, and bringing to light the reality of Canada's relationship with Indigenous Peoples. He called on all of us to ‘Do Something’ to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together, and move reconciliation forward.

Happy birthday Wicapi Omani "Man who walks among the stars."

11/08/2021

09/29/2021

08/30/2021

Welcome to our new Festival Hall Legacy Space page. Here you will find information about our space and upcoming events. The space was created in 2019 in order to bring awareness to the Downie/Wenjack Fund and all issues around reconciliation.

We celebrated our first year with a Legacy Event featuring ceremonial dancers, drumming, singers and speakers. We had a musical tribute to Gord Downie, our friend who inspired us to open this space. Sadly we have been unable to host events since 2020 due to the pandemic but have been watching closely with much sadness and determination the discoveries at residential school sites. We are however satisfied that finally the difficult truth is being told on a wider scale.

We have events planned for October 22 but full details have not yet been released due to the volatile pandemic situation.

Our Downie Wenjack Legacy Space is desperately in need of volunteers and sponsors.