Now Open: Supercrawl 2025 Calls For Vendors
Supercrawl is a free annual outdoor art and music festival held in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, showcasing a diverse and dynamic lineup of music, art, fashion, performance, talks, crafts, food and fun. In 2024, Supercrawl covered 22 city blocks and attracted more than 285,000 visitors over the course of the weekend. Organizers look forward to building upon that foundation at this fall’s festival — Supercrawl’s 16th anniversary — taking place September 12-14, 2025 on James Street North.
Calls for Vendors (Food Trucks & Tented Vendors) for Supercrawl 2025 are now open!
Food Truck Application
Tented Vendor Application
Calls for Entry for the 2025 edition of Supercrawl are now closed. Thanks to all who applied.
Please do not contact organizers regarding the results of your application before they are communicated to you. When decisions are made, you will be contacted.
Please do not telephone, text, direct message, or use social media comments for artist- or vendor-related requests/communications. All official communications will be conducted via email only.
Successful applicants will be contacted by early June. Please note that prior participation or application does not guarantee a spot at Supercrawl.
Call for Volunteers and Call for Models will open in summer. Follow our socials for more!
Follow our socials (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) or watch our website for more details!
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Supercrawl was founded out of a desire to showcase the city’s cultural vibrancy and eclectic arts landscape, and remains dedicated to honouring, showcasing and celebrating all varieties of creative work. Supercrawl prioritizes curating a diverse and representative festival lineup. We recognize our responsibility to amplify voices that have traditionally been marginalized, both in our community and in society as a whole.
Supercrawl is committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. We strive to create an environment in which all participants may flourish. We are committed to removing systemic barriers to access and opportunity, and welcome artistic proposals from all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or economic status. We welcome submissions from artists of all backgrounds, including but not limited to Indigenous, Black, people of colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, women, people with disabilities, and members of equity-seeking communities.
Supercrawl Presents Sharp Words Book Fair Feb 15 at Bridgeworks
Sharp Words returns to Bridgeworks for its third year! Join us at this free event to discover fabulous new books from innovative writers and publishers, to talk to authors and artists, and to celebrate writing in our city. RSVP today to ensure your access.
The book fair will be open from 11:00am to 5:00pm and will feature great independent presses, artists, comic book creators and writers along with talks about publishing, the writing life and more.
Vendors are slated to include Abundance Press, Raymond Beauchemin, Between the Lines Press, Black Eye Books, Book*hug Press, The City & the City Books, Darrel Epp, Gordon Hill Press, gritLIT, Hamilton City Magazine, Hamilton Public Library, Lime Press and the Comics Collective, David Lee, The Literary Press Group, Little Ghost Books, Mawenzi House, Serif of Nottingham, Stelliform Press, Stephen Pearl, Michelle Stark, Telling Tales Festival, West Meadow Press, and Wolsak and Wynn.
Sharp Words respects, supports and encourages the wearing of masks at our in-person events.
RSVP & INFO
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EVENT SCHEDULE (Subject to Change)
11:00 am
Doors Open
11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Understanding Small Press Publishing
There’s a lot of confusion about how to get your book published and whether or not you want to go it alone as your author or signed by a multi-national publishing company. But there’s a world of other publishers out there, in what’s called the small presses. Join author and radio host Jamie Tennant in conversation with Selena Middleton of Stelliform Press and Hazel Millar of Book*Hug Press to talk about how small press publishing works, and why so many great books come from these presses.
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Live Podcast of What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books
Nathan Whitlock brings his much-loved podcast to Sharp Words for his first live recording with award-winning Hamilton author Anuja Varghese!
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Is Anyone Listening?
It’s never been harder to get a good conversation going about issues that are important to our cities and communities, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying! Join Deborah Dundas, Opinions Editor at The Toronto Star, Meredith McLeod, co-publisher of Hamilton City Magazine and Lisa Quinn, the publisher of McGill-Queens University Press as they talk about how to create spaces to share ideas and information in our communities.
PLEASE NOTE: Evening component, Sharp Words Literary Cabaret, has been cancelled due to unanticipated logistical challenges.
Supercrawl Presents Owen Pallett at Mills Hardware Feb 7, 2025
Supercrawl Presents
OWEN PALLETT
with guest Merival
Owen Pallett is one of Canada’s most prolific composers and collaborators. As a solo artist, Owen has released a string of critically praised solo recordings, winning the Polaris Music Prize in 2006. Their most recent album, Island, was released in 2020 on Secret City Records and Domino Recording Co. As a chamber music composer, Owen has been commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Bang On A Can, and The Barbican, among many others. Most recently, Owen worked in collaboration with Lido Pimienta in creating a new work for the New York City Ballet, “skytohold”. As a producer and arranger, Owen has worked with Frank Ocean, Caribou, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The National, Taylor Swift, R.E.M., Wolf Alice, Fucked Up, Keane, Pet Shop Boys, Christine And The Queens, Titus Andronicus, Julia Jacklin, The Last Shadow Puppets, Duran Duran, Banks, Snow Patrol, The Weather Station, Sigur Rós, Linkin Park. Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sharon Van Etten, The Mountain Goats, Beirut, Lana Del Rey, Superchunk, and many, many more. Owen won an Album Of The Year Grammy for their collaborative work on Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. Owen also works extensively as a film and TV composer, having worked with directors M Blash, Matt Wolf, Mary Nighy, Anton Corbijn and Jerrod Carmichael. Owen won an Emmy for their work on Solve Sundsbo’s Fourteen Actors Acting, and was nominated for an Academy Award for their work on the original score of Spike Jonze’s Her. Owen currently resides in Toronto.
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok | Spotify | Apple Music
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Canadian singer-songwriter Merival writes searching songs out of deeply personal tension. Heartache, dysfunction, and interpersonal growth inform her introspective lyrics; philosophical musings are carried by her deceptively involved musical arrangements. Vulnerability is the name of her game, by turns light-hearted and heavy. After the indie success of her EP Lovers in 2016 and notable collaborations on Izzard’s “Secret Garden” and Swim Good Now’s “Since U Asked”, Merival released her first full length, Lesson, in 2019. “Lesson” was rated #7 on Dominionated’s Favourite Fifty of 2019. In performance, the honesty of Merival’s powerful voice transfixes audiences and brings them into a new space filled with personal journies and arcane musical exploration. She has appeared at Riverfest Elora and POP Montreal and has opened for artists such as Tim Baker, Yves Jarvis and Daniela Andrade. Merival’s most recent EP Either Side was released in April 2020 and was described by Cups n Cakes Network as “complex, captivating songwriting.”
Supercrawl Presents Martha Wainwright at Bridgeworks Mar 21, 2025
Supercrawl Presents
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT
20th Anniversary Tour
with special guest Haley Blais
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Haley Blais is a Vancouver-based singer-songwriter who has turned out defiant scream-into-your-pillow pop songs since 2014. Blais developed a community and fanbase as a teenager almost a decade ago with her diaristic YouTube videos and tender ukulele covers. Since then, Blais has traded the solo ukulele for a guitar and a five-piece band. In 2020, Blais released a debut full-length album of jangly pop anthems, Below the Salt, produced with indie staples Tennis and Louise Burns. The debut amassed millions of streams and avid support from publications like NPR, NYLON, and i-D, leading to sell-out shows in the UK, Europe and USA. Now signed to iconic indie label Arts & Crafts, Haley’s signature sound has matured into a distinct new voice. Her lyrics riff on the joys and banalities of the everyday, the need to break apart and away from an uninspiring life, radical acceptance, and manifesting a world where you feel proud of yourself and who you’re surrounded by. Wisecrack (released September 15, 2023), her sophomore album, was conceived as a conceptual record about the formation of new families amidst the dissolution of her parent’s relationship; Wisecrack is textured and wryly poetic, oscillating somewhere between cherished childhood memories and the creation of a new self. The existential, everyday worries we all contain but rarely share are laid bare across 11 songs exquisitely performed with profundity, grace, and humour. Tongue-in-cheek lines like “I want my therapist to think I’m cool” give the melancholic mood a biting edge. “Can I be responsible for things that I did years ago? / I guess it could be good for just a laugh,” Blais sings — that’s Wisecrack in a nutshell. Funny and raw at the same time.
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Supercrawl Lineups: 16 Years of Dazzling Music
ONE FESTIVAL. SIXTEEN SEASONS. HUNDREDS OF PERFORMERS
Since 2009, Supercrawl has hosted a vibrant range of compelling and contemporary musical talent. Whether through the signature on-street festival weekend, partnered presentations, club series, or ticketed events, Supercrawl consistently showcases the best of local live music alongside national and international artists.
The kaleidoscopic roster of Supercrawl alumni runs into the high hundreds and includes A Tribe Called Red, The Acorn, Jeremie Albino, Allegories, Altameda, The Altobeelays, Alvvays, Matt Andersen, Antibalas, The Anti-Queens, Arkells, Art Pop Ensemble, A Side B Side, Ascot Royals, Astral Witch, Athanase, Rich Aucoin, Averages, Kee Avil, Avrha, Aysanabee, Backbiters, BADBADNOTGOOD, Bad Dates, Bad Waitress, Bahamas, Tim Baker, Adam Baldwin, The Bandicoots, Tynomi Banks, The Barettas, James Barker Band, Basement Revolver, Bathing, BB Guns, The Beaches, Sarah Beatty, The Be Sharps, Beef Boys, Beelays, Begonia, Beliefs, Belle Game, Bend It Like Beck, Ridley Bent, The Beverleys, Big Fir, Big Wreck, Bile Sister, Bill and the Art Crawlers, Billy Moon, Billy Talent, Everett Bird, Rae Billing & Crybaby, Black Baron, Black Collar Union, Black Rhino Riot, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, Blandlord, Blind Mule, Blunt Chunks, Bocce, Bombino,
Bonjay, Boo Seeka, Kate Boothman, Born in the Eighties, Born Ruffians, Jessie Bower, Bowjia, Boy & Bear, Boy Golden, Boyhood, Boys and Girls Club, Charles Bradley, Bravestation, Breeze, Broken Social Scene, Bros, The Bros. Landreth, Brott Opera, Bruce Peninsula, Brusque Twins, Jennifer Budd, Buddah Abusah, Basia Bulat, Katie Bulley, Thomas Cade, Cadence Weapon, Ben Caplan, Caribou, Carmen on Tap, Carpenteers, Casper Skulls, Jennifer Castle, Catl, Caveboy, Century Palm, Change of Heart, Nuela Charles, Tanika Charles & the Wonderfuls, Evelyn Charlotte-Joe, Chastity, Chelsea Light Moving, Rita Chiarelli, Paul Chin, Choir! Choir! Choir!, Choose Up, Chore, Nicole Christian, City and the Sea, Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs, Laura Cole, Colour Film, Comet Control, Command Sisters, The Commissionaires, Cootes Paradise,
Charlotte Cornfield, Coszmos Quartette, Cowlick, Coy Haste, William Crighton, Cross Dog, The Crowleys, Crrotting, Crystal Journey, Customaries, Aron D’Alesio, Danko Jones, The Danks, Dead Tired, Dear Rouge, Dearly Beloved, The Dears, Death From Above 1979, Matthew de Zoete, Diamond Rings, Digging Roots, The Dill, Dilly Dally. Dinner Belles, Dinosaur Bones, The Diodes, Dirty Frigs, The Dirty Nil, Discography DJs, Dizzy, Dizzy Spells, DJ Basco, DJ Ollie, DJ Spinn, Doldrums, Doobie Freaks, Don Vail, Doomsquad, Dr. Draw, Kevin Drew, Ducats, Dwayne Gretzky, Earth Wind and Choir, The East Pointers, Eccodek, Dan Edmonds, Egyptrixx, Eight and a Half, Electroluminescent, Elk, Ellevator, Elliott Brood, Joel Elliot and Thin Lines, Ellis, John Ellison, The Elwins, Emay, Engine Empire, Eschaton, Espanola, Essen, Etiquette, Explosions In The Sky, Julie Fader, Fake Palms, Fame Cartel,
Family of Things, Fast Romantics, Fateh, Michael Feuerstack, Fionn, Jeremy Fisher, Jeremy Fisher Junior, Five Alarm Funk, The Flatliners, Flesh Rag, Fontine, Norman Foote, Four Tet, Pete Fowler, The Franklin Electric, Fresh Snow, Danielle Fricke, Friendly Rich, Frog Eyes, Fruiti, Fry Truck, F—-d Up, The Fuddles, Evangeline Gentle, Hannah Georgas, The Gertrudes, Get Off the Cop, Tim Gibbons,The Goddamn Goddamns, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Golden Feather, Good Luck Shop, Sarah Good, Goodnight Sunrise, Great Lake Swimmers, The Great Machine, Jacques Greene, Jeremy Greenspan, JG Ballad, Grey Lands, Greys, Grey\\Water, Groove Machine, GUH, Guilty Pleasure, Hachey the Mouthpeace, Jordan Haller, The Halluci Nation, Hamilton Children Choir, Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra,
Hamilton Suzuki School of Music, Hamilton Youth Steel Orchestra, Handsome Sultan, Haolin Munk, Harlan Pepper, Sarah Harmer, The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, Harrison, Harrow Fair, Haters, Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins, Hayden, Piper Hayes, HEALTH, The Heartbroken, Hello Harvard, Matt Henderson, The Darcy Hepner Jazz Orchestra, The HiCats, Tim Hicks, Rebekah Higgs, High Kites, High Note Ramblers, Lacey Hill, Hollerado, Matt Holubowski, Holy Data, Hotel Mira, How to Dress Well, HSY, Humans, Huren, Ikonica, Illitry, Iskwé, Island People, Jambassadors, Jamie xx, Jaunt, Jess and Tay, BA Johnston, Jon and Roy, Julianna Jones, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Julie & the Wrong Guys, Junior Boys, K’naan, Kaïa Kater, Mia Kelly, Harrison Kennedy, The Kents, Shawn Kerr, Kestrels, kid YEARS, Kiesza, The Killjoys,
King Park, Kingdom Shore, Shawnee Kish, Taylor Knox, Kode9, Komodo, Kotek, Chantal Kreviazuk, KROY, Pierre Kwenders, L-Spex, Joey Landreth, Ryan Langdon, Language Arts, Daniel Lanois, Jessy Lanza, Lava Dolls, Bettye LaVette, Mikhail Laxton, Ada Lea, Alyssa LeClair, Lee Harvey Osmond, The Legendary Turnstylez, Hamilton Leithauser, Hubert Lenoir, Mattie Leon, Le Ren, Les Trois Accords, Letters to Lions, Terra Lightfoot, Lightmares, Lights, Lindy, Little Junior, Live How You Live, Kellie Loder, Lone Rhu, Lonely Parade, LOONY, Lost In The Trees, Loviet, DJ Donna Lovejoy, Lowell, Sarah Lowes, LTtheMonk, Luckystickz, Luella, Luna Li, Corb Lund, Olivia Lunny, Catherine MacLellan, Raine Maida, Dan Mangan, Shanika Maria, J Mascis, Mayor McCA, Eamon McGrath, McMaster Cybernetic Orchestra, Ryan McNally, The Marble Index, Melissa Marchese,
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, Matt Mays, Matthew Runaway, Mean Old Hammer,The Medicine Hat, Megative, Melted Faces, METZ, Mexican Slang, Haviah Mighty, Mississippi Bends, Modern Space, Ariane Moffatt, Mokomakai, MonkeyJunk, Monowhales, Monster Truck, Jacob Moon, Moon King, MOONRIIVR, Motel Raphaël, Motëm, Mother Leads, Mother Tareka & the Rebel Funktion, Mount Farewell, Mountain of Wolves, Muffled Suitcase, Benjamin Muñoz, MVLL CRIMES, My Brightest Diamond, My Son The Hurricane, Mystery Machine, Nailbiter, The National, The National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Nautiluss, nêhiyawak, Angela Nethersole, Sarah Neufeld, New Friends, New Hands, Nezqwik, Willie Nile, Not Of, Nyssa, Mimi O’Bonsawin, Jesse O’Brien, Chris Oday, Odonis Odonis, Of Gentlemen & Cowards, Oh Susanna, Ohbijou, Ohmme,
Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, OMBIIGIZI, Opera Hamilton, Operators, Lindi Ortega, Osito, The Pack AD, Paley & Francis, Owen Pallett, Pandaléon, Peter Pankhurst, Gabrielle Papillon, Brant Parker, Partner, Passion Pit, Fred Penner, Paula Perri, Sandro Perri, Persons, Pet Sun, Peter Dreams, Petra Glynt, Pick A Piper, Lido Pimienta, Pineapple Girls, The Pistolettes, Plants and Animals, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Pleasure Craft, Poesy, Poor Nameless Boy, Postdata, Keegan Powell, Neeraj Prem, Kelly Prescott, PS I Love You, Pucumber Sasssquatch Family Band, Pumps, Queen Cee, Rah Rah, Rarity, Reader, The Reason, The Recklaws, The Redhill Valleys, Lee Reed, Repartee, The Rest, Revive The Rose, Rexford Drive, Amanda Rheaume, Rhythm Express, Rise Carmine, River Tiber, Sam Roberts Band, Ben Rogers, Neena Rose, Shealagh Rose,
Sean Rowe, Royal Canoe, Royal Castles, Royal Seas, Rules,Run Maggie Run, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Serena Ryder, The Sadies, Said the Whale, Buffy Sainte-Marie, John K. Samson, Sandman Viper Command, Scattered Clouds, Scratcha DVA,Sensei, Several Futures, Sha Bang Bang, Shad, Shade, Sharon and Bram, Andy Shauf, Annie Shaw, Jamie Shea & The Gentle Reminders, The Sheepdogs, Naomi Shelton and The Gospel Queens, Shout Out Out Out Out, SIANspheric, Simon and The Alexanders, Mike Simonetti, Simply Saucer, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Single Mothers, SINS, Skiffs, Skirt Check, Alfie Smith, C.A Smith, Smoothie Lou, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Snowblink, So Young, Ben Somer, The Sorority, John Southworth, Speedy Ortiz, Spoon, Spruce Invaders, Ginger St. James, Alex St. Kitts, Stars, Status/Non-Status,
The Strangers, The Stinkbugs, Steve Strongman, The Strumbellas, The Sugarman 3, Sun K,Sunshine Makers, Suuns,Superstar Crush, Adrian Sutherland, Tomi Swick, Tallies, Tanya Tagaq, Rory Taillon, Theo Tams, Tarantula X, Julian Taylor,Teenage Head, Texas King, Ian Thomas, Thought Beneath Film, 3:1, Timber Timbre, Michelle Titian, To Our Divide,Tongue Fu, Too Many Zooz, The Trews, Trickbag, TRP.P, ttwwrrss, TUNS, Turkey Rhubarb, Turnstylez, TV Freaks, Jeff Tweedy, Twin Within, Uncle Harry & The Kickstands, Vallens, Heather Valley, The Vanishers, The Vaudevillian, Menno Versteeg, Vierance, Viet Cong, Vilivant, Suzie Vinnick, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Walrus, Ruby Waters, Willie Watson, Wax Mannequin, Weaves, Bry Webb, Sam Weber, Weekend Riot Club, White Cowbell Oklahoma, White Crowleys, Whitehorse, Wild Domestic, JJ Wilde,
Charlotte Day Wilson, Roslyn Witter, Steven Wilson, Thompson Wilson, Wintersleep, Wish, Witherow & Wynands, Womb, Wooly Mantis, Donovan Woods, Hawksley Workman, Max Wray, WTCHS, X Ambassadors, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, Yassin + Sean Terrio, Lori Yates & the Drugstore Cowboys, Yo La Tengo, Young Galaxy, Young Rival, Yukon Blonde, Zeus, The Zilis, The Zolas, ZONES and Zoon. That expansive talent roll will grow longer still with the release of details around the 17th annual edition of Supercrawl in June 2025.
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TOP TO BOTTOM: Antibalas at Supercrawl 2014; Arkells at Supercrawl 2014; Broken Social Scene at Supercrawl 2018; Fateh at Supercrawl 2019; iskwē at Supercrawl 2018; Sharon Jones at Supercrawl 2015; Lido Pimienta at Supercrawl 2022; The Sorority at Supercrawl 2019; Spoon at Supercrawl 2014; Tanya Tagaq at Supercrawl 2017; Yo La Tengo at Supercrawl 2013
Video shot on location at Supercrawl 2019 by Thrillhouse Studios
James North: Neighbourhood of the Arts
A PLACE WHERE CREATIVITY LIVES
Since 2010, Supercrawl has showcased visual art installations in a variety of media, including projects and artwork by Hiba Abdallah, Kim Adams, Donna Akrey, Mark Ainslie, Asli Alin, All Our Relations Collective, Jaime Angelopoulos, Arts For All, Sonny Assu, C.R. Avery, Nedda Baba, Mary Anne Barkhouse, BecauseDesignMatters, Sarah Beck, Monique Aura Bedard, Beehive Craft Collective, Connor Bennett, BGL, Kiera Boult, David Brooks, Adam David Brown, Lea Bucknell, Dawn Hackett Burns, Nathan Eugene Carson, Tia Cavanagh, Tracie Ching, Jefferson Campbell-Cooper, Roy Caussy, Clear Eyes Collective, David Collier, Cesar C. Cordoba, Vanessa Crosbie Ramsay, Adrienne Crossman, Nathan Cyprys, Marco D’Andrea, Shayne Dark, Tanya Davis, Sara Deck, John Dickson, Eric Drass, dpai architecture, Dean Drever, Jason Edmiston, En Masse, Justin Erickson, Simon Frank, Jason Freiburger, Frenly, Melissa General, Shlomi Greenspan, Group of 7 Billion, Ann Marie Hadcock, Anthony Haley, Anitra Hamilton, Hamilton Perambulatory Unit, John Haney, Adad Hannah, Sandi Hartling, Alexa Hatanaka, Robert Hengeveld, Dave Hind, Katie Huckson, Alicia Hunt, Natalie Hunter, Alex Jacobs-Blum, Erika James, Carey Jernigan, Thea Jones, Svava Thordis Juliusson, kírkē, Koe Design, Jason Krugman, Leafton Labs, Ness Lee, Maria Legault, Gareth Lichty, Little Dada and the Boys, Tor Lukasik-Foss, Drew MacEachern, Vincent Marcone, Kelly Mark, Laura Marotta, Sean Martindale, Christopher McLeod, Nancy Anne McPhee, Andrew McPhail, Robert Michael, Zeke Moores, Chrix Morix, Amber Helene Müller St. Thomas, Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Shelley Niro, Susy Oliveira, Andrew Owen, Patrick Paine, Megan Press, Mark Prier, Sean Procyk, Nathalie Quagliotto, Red Tree Collective, Paige Reynolds, Jim Riley, Mitch Robertson, Jessica A. Rodríguez, Matt Rogalsky, Al Runt, Dustin Seabrook, Shake-n-Make, Chris Shepherd, Coral Short, Kimber Sider, Site 3 Fire Arts, Skawennati, Stephanie Springgay, St Marie φ Walker, stylo starr, Jordyn Stewart, Kyle Stewart, Max Streicher, Kearon Roy Taylor, Tyler Tekatch, Reece Terris, TH&B, Alison Thompson, Patrick Thompson, Matt Ryan Tobin, Kevin Tong, José Luis Torres, Brandon Vickerd, Matthew Walker, C. Wells, Elinor Whidden, Peter Michael Wilson, Tom Wilson, and Shellie Zhang. That roster will expand with the release of details around the 17th annual edition of Supercrawl in June 2025.
Supercrawl provides opportunities to local, regional and national artists and performers at both early and established stages of their practices. An annual call for submissions is issued to invite proposals from artists working in a variety of media.
Art-loving festival-goers will also find numerous gallery spaces and artists’ studios in and around Supercrawl’s neighbourhood, including Art Gallery of Hamilton, The Assembly, B-SIDE, Centre[3], Coloma Studio, Gallery 4 Annex, Melanie Gillis Studio, Hamilton Artists Inc., HCA Gallery, Mills Hardware, RE-Create Outreach Art Studio, Studio on James, The Studios at Hotel Hamilton, Workers Arts and Heritage Centre and You Me Gallery.
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TOP TO BOTTOM: Dean Drever, Bear Hunt, at Supercrawl 2014; Max Streicher, Giants Ascending, at Supercrawl 2011
Video shot on location at Supercrawl 2019 by Thrillhouse Studios
Massive Thanks!
Massive thanks to everyone who came out for Supercrawl 2024. You made the festival’s 16th anniversary especially sweet and proved beyond question that Hamilton is a creative, dynamic, welcoming community.
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s Supercrawl real: To our volunteers, staff, artists, vendors, and everyone who dug deep, filled their art with love, and worked incredibly hard to make this festival special. To the residents and merchants of our amazing neighbourhood for their generous hospitality. And, of course, thank you to the festival-goers of all ages — more than 285,000 — who came from far and wide and embraced all of it.
Mark your calendars for the next edition of Supercrawl, returning to James North September 12-14, 2025!
Supercrawl Presents Godspeed You! Black Emperor Nov 4 at Bridgeworks
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR
GA Standing • Licensed/All-Ages • $50 (+SC/HST) Advance
Montréal producer Kee Avil combines guitar, voice, and electronic production to forge deconstructed songs informed by a distinctive amalgam of post-industrial, avant-pop, glitch, minimalist, and experimental folk sensibilities. On Spine, her sophomore album, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. This is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There’s a hypnotic somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time’s passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Within a minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief.
29 Sep 2024 • London UK • Troxy
30 Sep 2024 • Glasgow, UK • Barrowlands
01 Oct 2024 • Manchester UK • Ritz
02 Oct 2024 • Bristol UK • Marble Factory
03 Oct 2024 • Coventry UK • The Empire
04 Oct 2024 • Tourcoing FR • Le Grand Mix
05 Oct 2024 • Esch-Alzette LU • Kufa
06 Oct 2024 • Paris FR • Le Trianon
08 Oct 2024 • Nantes FR • Stereolux
09 Oct 2024 • Nancy FR • L’Autre Canal (Jazz Pulsation Festival)
10 Oct 2024 • Zürich CH • Volkshaus
11 Oct 2024 • Lausanne CH • Les Docks
12 Oct 2024 • Frankfurt DE • Zoom
14 Oct 2024 • Berlin DE • Huxleys
15 Oct 2024 • Amsterdam NE • Paradiso
16 Oct 2024 • Brussels BE • AB
18 Oct 2024 • Athens GR • Floyd
05 Nov 2024 • Toronto ON • The Concert Hall
06 Nov 2024 • London ON • London Music Hall
07 Nov 2024 • Grand Rapids MI • Elevation
08 Nov 2024 • Chicago IL • The Salt Shed
09 Nov 2024 • St Paul MN • Palace Theater
11 Nov 2024 • Lawrence KS • Liberty Hall
12 Nov 2024 • Fayetteville AR • George’s Majestic Lounge
13 Nov 2024 • Nashville TN • The Basement East
14 Nov 2024 • Knoxville TN • Bijou Theater
15 Nov 2024 • Atlanta GA • The Masquerade
16 Nov 2024 • Charleston SC • The Music Farm
17 Nov 2024 • Saxapahaw NC • Haw River Ballroom
19 Nov 2024 • Washington DC • 9:30 Club
21 Nov 2024 • Brooklyn NY • Pioneerworks
22 Nov 2024 • Norwalk CT • District Music Hall
23 Nov 2024 • Boston MA • Roadrunner
24 Nov 2024 • Philadelphia PA • Union Transfer
Supercrawl Presents JJ Wilde Nov 8 at Bridgeworks
JJ WILDE
GA Standing 19+ • $30 (+SC/HST) Advance
Chart-topping tour de force JJ Wilde has been on an incredible journey since the release of her debut album Ruthless in 2020. With over 36 million global streams and prominent playlist placement on digital platforms, Wilde continues to captivate a diverse global audience, consistently establishing herself as a dominant voice in the rock music scene. Wilde etched her name in the history books as the first female artist to simultaneously hit #1 on all three Canadian rock charts with her debut SOCAN Award winning single “The Rush,” holding the slot for 10 weeks concurrently in addition to spending a whopping 21 weeks atop the Rock Big Picture chart. She quickly followed with two more back-to-back #1’s: “Best Boy,” an unapologetic anthem challenging societal norms for women, and her hit “Mercy,” a modern rock powerhouse weaving a tale of revenge. Her reign as Canada’s Queen of Rock n’ Roll didn’t end there; in 2021 Wilde took home the JUNO Award for Rock Album of the Year for her album Ruthless (2020), becoming the first woman to do so since Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill in 1996. Wilde has shared the stage with a veritable who’s-who of acclaimed acts including Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, Pearl Jam, The Glorious Sons, Scorpions, Kiss and more, and her magnetic stage presence at renowned festivals worldwide, including Bottle Rock, Firefly, Nova Rock, and Hyde Park with Pearl Jam, have solidified her reputation as a captivating live performer. Now, Wilde embarks on her next chapter, poised to release the first taste of her most powerful and personal collection of songs to date with the May 2024 EP Best Of Me (Part 1).
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The Vancouver folk-pop duo Fionn have spent most of the last year working on their new record I Might Start Smoking. This new record is a full-circle record for Fionn, revisiting the sound and spirit of their heralded first releases; however, their path to this point has been anything but predictable. After all, the duo only dropped their self-titled debut in 2018, though they’ve been quite prolific since, developing a song writing palette in a few years that even career artists would kill for. Their latest finds the sisters leaning on their Celtic roots and limiting their palette with organic instrumentation. It’s still catchy as hell, relying on musicianship, song writing acumen, and authenticity for hooks instead of high-tech tools. Fionn have been making their way back onstage after the pandemic’s forced hiatus and will surely return to pushing musical boundaries with subsequent recordings. For now though, this album revisits the pure, undiluted creative prowess that propelled them to fame in the first place.
Supercrawl Presents Andy Shauf Oct 4 at Bridgeworks
ANDY SHAUF
GA Standing 19+ • $35 (+SC/HST) Advance
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Hailed as “a gifted storyteller” (NPR Music) for 2016’s The Party and 2020’s The Neon Skyline, Andy Shauf writes albums that unfold like short fiction, full of colorful characters, fine details and a rich emotional depth. With his 2023 album Norm, however, Shauf has slyly deconstructed and reshaped the style for which he’s been celebrated, elevating his songwriting with intricate layers and perspectives, challenging himself to find a new direction. Under the guise of an intoxicating collection of jazz-inflected romantic ballads, his storytelling has become decidedly more oblique, hinting at ominous situations and dark motivations. Shauf had planned to be touring around The Neon Skyline but, like many of us in the early days of the pandemic, he spent a lot of time alone instead. He sequestered himself in his garage studio, self-producing and playing every instrument on Norm, a collection of more conventional songs written predominantly on guitar, piano and synths. The latter was essential to creating the more spacious and tactile sounds he sought. Shauf’s goals were uncomplicated: create something melody-driven rather than chord-driven, and make it modern. Shauf recruited Neal Pogue (Tyler, the Creator, Janelle Monae, Outkast), a prodigious shaper of genre-and-time-defying tracks, to mix the album, further building on the gently levitating, synth-laden atmospherics. After gaining indie notoriety with The Party and a Polaris Music Prize nomination, performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and CBS This Morning: Saturday, and praise from the likes of Pitchfork, ESQUIRE, NPR Music, Stereogum, The Atlantic and beyond for The Neon Skyline, Shauf has left the realm of things he’s known on his third album, pivoting away from the semi-autobiographical, and pushing himself to grow as a songwriter in an entirely different way. With Norm, he recreated his idea of a concept album, and also made it about faith and fatalism. But Shauf has realized he doesn’t need to moralize. He’s assigned that task to us, the listeners. At once narrators and investigators, we fill in the blanks.
