SCHEDULE (AUGUST 27)

1. Film Screening: FESTIVAL EXPRESS (2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT)

Festival Express (Bob Smeaton, 2003)
** Note that this film will be presented at The Bookshelf in Guelph. Admission is free. No need to reserve tickets.
The filmed account of a large Canadian rock festival train tour boasting major acts. In the summer of 1970, a chartered train crossed Canada carrying some of the world’s greatest rock bands. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, and others lived (and partied) together for five days, stopping in major cities along the way to play live concerts.

With a prerecorded introduction by Clarke Mackey, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University where he taught for 30 years. A media maker, writer, teacher, and cultural activist living in Kingston, Ontario, he has worked as a director, cinematographer, editor, producer or writer on over 50 film, television, and new media projects. Clarke Mackey was one of four cinematographers on the 1970 concert tour that became Festival Express, released 34 years after the original event. His latest project, a six-episode fiction podcast called The Makers and Shakers Society, is coming out in September.

Also, please take note:
2. Live Performance (6:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. EDT)

Toronto-based Japanese drumming ensemble Nagata Shachu will be performing at Branion Plaza (University of Guelph campus, just outside of the University Centre) to close out IF 2022.

Nagata Shachu, based in Toronto, has enthralled audiences with its mesmerizing and heart-pounding performances of the Japanese drum (taiko) since its formation in 1998. The group has toured widely throughout Canada, the US, and Italy, and has performed at major engagements in Lebanon and Mexico. Featuring an arsenal of taiko, bamboo flutes, the three-stringed shamisen and an array of gongs, cymbals, shakers and wood blocks, Nagata Shachu will take you on a musical journey beyond all borders.

If you are not in Guelph or would rather watch the concert remotely, this performance will also be livestreamed as part of the IF 2022 stream at improvfest.ca, capping 24 hours of new, improvised performances from around the world.