River Arts Festival

Who are We?

The River Arts Festival is a 2 week multidisciplinary celebration of the arts, incorporating visual arts, music, dance, authors/written word, film and video, culinary art and more. Held the first 2 weeks in November in downtown Dunnville, Ontario, we are in our twelfth year and continuing to grow year over year.

The Festival is unique – it is held in a rural community, attracts superb artists and performers, and, for the most part, events are free, although people are asked to “pay what you can” at each event to assist in defraying the costs associated with such a huge undertaking.

Visual art is displayed in a wide variety of downtown businesses and there is a main gallery inside Haldimand Art Works located within Flyers Cafe at 144 Queen Street. Flyers Cafe is also “music central”, hosting major performers in an intimate setting where the focus is on listening. Other musical events are held in other locations, as are workshops, master classes, dance presentations, films, an authors’ night and more.

How did we Start?

Twelve years ago, local visual artist Mark Schmidt pulled together other local artists in a loose collective to host an art show and, in its third year, this group partnered with Haldimand Art Works, a registered charity mandated to nurture and promote the arts in Haldimand County, to expand the Festival into a multidisciplinary event held every November over two weeks.

Since its start, the Festival has grown every year, securing financial support from local businesses and individuals and grants. In 2011, we added a Rotary Exchange, bringing two students from England to the Festival to perform, and sending two local art students to England to do the same.

Who Plans and Runs the Festival?

The Festival is planned and rolled out entirely by volunteers from the community and volunteers from Haldimand Art Works. The 2012 edition includes the following people on the Planning Committee: Jody Orr, Frances Porter, Lacie Williamson, Shawndra White, Natalia Shields, Joan Laffier, and Kevin Hamilton.

If you want to get involved, as an artist, a donor or sponsor or a volunteer, please contact us at: askus@riverartsfestival.ca .