Posted By SHANNON QUESNEL
Updated 3 hours ago

The second annual Aboriginal Music Festival brought together Native performers and other artists this weekend.

The event took place near the Mississauga First Nation powwow grounds off of Highway 557.

Organizer Roger Daybutch says the idea of the festival is to get Native musicians more attention and to generate interest for a project.

“We are trying to get a community radio station going,” says Daybutch.

It would be called Mississauga Community Radio. He stresses the festival and the radio station idea have no political connections to any one community. The two are to remain independent and also to stay away from government grants.

“The whole idea behind it is to focus on Native talent.”

The current stations are programmed to deliver content that’s regulated through the CRTC (Canadian Radio-télevision and Telecommunications Commission).

“And a lot of our Native performers are recording independently and they are not getting into that market.”

This festival is one way of getting the word and the songs out there to the public. Admission to the event was $5.

Performers did not have to pay a fee and were free to sell their merchandise, such as CDs, at the event.

Musical acts came from as far away as Sudbury, Kitchener and Sault Ste. Marie as well as from Mississauga First Nation, Blind River and other communities across the North Shore.

About eight acts performed some easy listening music during the day on Saturday. Tarp roofs and gazebo-style tents were set up so the audience and Native elders could escape the heat. Younger performers were to play that night for the younger crowds.

Daybutch hopes the crowds and the attention increase every year.

via ElliotLakeStandard.ca