Ken Wallis Chats With Larry Kurtz, Artistic Director Of The Orangeville Blues And Jazz Festival
- Ken Wallis
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The Orangeville Blues And Jazz Festival is one of the best music festivals on the planet. The festival has featured both Canadian and International musicians over the years, and it’s become a fan favourite. This year’s festival follows the tradition of top-notch talent and a fun weekend of festivities.
Ken Wallis Interviewed Larry Kurtz for the radio show BluesSource Canada. The following are excerpts from that interview, amended and edited for brevity and clarity.
Ken Wallis
The Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival is just around the corner, and to give us some background info is artistic director Larry Kurtz.
Larry, thanks for coming on the show.
Larry Kurtz
So happy to be here with you.
Ken Wallis
The festival runs this year from May 30th to June1st, and it is one of the top 100 festivals in Ontario. How long has this festival been running?
Larry Kurtz
So this is year 21, we started in 2003, we had two years of shut down for COVID, but we've been back for a few years now.
Ken Wallis
There are a whole bunch of different stages and all kinds of things happening. So can you tell us a little bit about how many different stages you have?
Larry Kurtz
I guess you would say we have 3 stages. We have the main stage in the park behind the town hall. We have a stage right on the street on Broadway on the Main Street, kitty corner to the town hall. And then inside the town hall we have our historic Opera House, which is a 270-seat,soft-seattheatre.
Ken Wallis
And there's all kinds of music going on in the bars and pubs on the street as well too.
Larry Kurtz
Yes, on Friday night we do the BluesCruise. We have 300 classic cars on the street. We have bands on the street, and have bands on the Broadway stage. We do the same thing on Sunday.We have the streets shut down with bands on the street, but this time it's with motorcycles. So that's our Blues and Bikes event.
Ken Wallis
And there area lot of other events happening, markets, and you name it, it's a great weekend for family to spend.
Larry Kurtz
Yeah, if you can get there early there's a farmers market. And then on one of the little side streets, Mill Street, which is attached to Broadway, there's a market going on all day on Saturday. And also, there are workshops so lots of stuff going on that you can attend
Ken Wallis
So where can folks get tickets for this event?
Larry Kurtz
The tickets are all on our website. Orangevillebluesandjazz.ca
Friday, Saturday nights are $20, Sunday is $10. Or you can buy a weekend pass for a mere $40.00 for the whole weekend.
Ken Wallis
Well, it's going to be a great weekend. I know I'm going to be there and I’m really looking forward to it.Larry, it's been great chatting with you again.
Larry Kurtz
Thanks Ken for your support.
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