Winnipeg, Manitoba – ENTERTAINMENT – Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) announced today the lineup and hosts for Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration, a free day-long event and a free evening concert that’s a smashing onstage display of Indigenous superstars at The Forks on Saturday, June 20, 2015.
The Celebration Village will open to the public at 11:00 a.m. and kick-off the day with free and fun family-friendly activities. A new addition to the 9th annual celebration is the APTN Kids Zone, an animated and fun filled space featuring a Qannik Bouncer, face painting, colouring, dancing, cultural crafts and much more for children to explore.
The Cultural Stages have also been revamped into one Cultural Stage that will feature rotating performances of First Nations, Inuit and Métis song and dance. Spirits will be lifted, souls will be moved, and toes and feet will be tapping to the beats – all throughout the day.
Ever-popular day activities return, including select regional Aboriginal artisans offering hand-crafted creations for sale and locally-sourced food trucks and vendors with fare to nourish all tastes. The Aboriginal Day Competition Pow Wow – brought to you by APTN and Manito Ahbee Festival and the Skateboard Park & Competition – brought to you by Rhythm 104.7 FM will energize the surrounding areas of the Celebration Village.
To welcome the summer solstice and setting sun, APTN will broadcast the Aboriginal Day Live concert LIVE and this year concerts will be held in Winnipeg and Edmonton. The Winnipeg main stage concert is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. CT and a fireworks finale will close the celebration at 11:30 p.m. CT.
Aboriginal Day Live Broadcast: APTN will bring the celebration to Canada via the LIVE broadcast, radio waves, online and mobile devices. The exclusive 4-hour Aboriginal Day Live concert will broadcast on APTN and APTN HD at 7:30 p.m. CT.
WINNIPEG LINEUP:
Live from The Forks in Winnipeg, Tina Keeper, actor and star of Cashing In will co-host the main stage performance with Kyle Nobess, star of the APTN hit series Mohawk Girls.
- Andy Desjarlais Tribute Performed by Patti Kusturok: From Manitoba, Kusturok’s energizing fiddle tribute to Andy Desjarlais will prompt toes to tap, hands to clap, and smiles to spread on faces all around. She’s not only the first woman and Western Canadian to claim the Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, but she’s also held the prestigious title: three times in a row.
- Brett Kissel: A multiple award-winning Canadian country star from Flat Lake, Alberta. Concertgoers and country jamboree fans have been singing and clapping along to Kissel’s feel-good hits for more than a decade. And he is only in his twenties! Kissel also teams up with Don Amero to perform and captivate all with a momentous one-off collaboration dedicated to the bridging of relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples.
- Don Amero: Well-known Winnipegger with a musical style that’s described as “John Mayer meets Keith Urban.” Amero captivates audiences with powerful melodious vocals, percussion-style guitar play, and engaging storytelling: coast-to-coast, on the festival circuit and even with the symphony.
- Federal Lights: A foursome of Winnipeggers who perform an award-winning style of alternative pop. Emerging on the scene with their debut release, We Were Found in The Fog, has garnered this gang the ‘Aboriginal Recording of the Year’ at the 2014 Western Canadian Music Awards.
- Lightning Cloud: A duo based out of Los Angeles. Crystle Lightning and MC RedCloud mix West Coast hip hop and electronic trap. Their show delivers a vibrant, multimedia stage performance.
- marijosée: Her dynamic, alluring voice is backed by Franco-pop and jazzed up world beats. Pas tout cuit dans l’bec – marijosée’s latest release – garnered the ‘Francophone Recording of the Year’ at last year’sWestern Canadian Music Awards.
- Mike Bone: They’ve performed on America’s Got Talent, and their hit song “Rain Dance” exploded across the U.S.A. Twin-like brothers who are a hip hop duo from Oklahoma City.
- Shayne and Taylor May: Two sisters from the Wikwemikong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin Island. In 2014, they co-wrote the song “Drowning” as part of their high school Music Business course. Mentor Ashley Buchholz, lead singer and guitarist of Toronto-based USS, gave the two girls their first chance at a commercial hit by producing their song.
People are also invited to join the conversation anytime on Twitter or Instagram by tagging their posts with #ADL2015, and the network will share them with its followers. Noteworthy posts that honour the celebration and its happenings could be added to the LIVE broadcast.
For the latest details on Aboriginal Day Live & Celebration, visit aboriginaldaylive.com
