Buffy Sainte-Marie will kick off the 2010 Aboriginal Pavilion’s nightly series of performances during the Winter Olympics.

The Cree singer-songwriter will hold a concert at the pavilion on February 12, following the opening ceremony of the Games.

More than two dozen traditional and contemporary artists will perform at the Aboriginal Pavilion, or Chiefs’ House, which is located on the plaza of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver.

Joy Harjo, Kinnie Starr, Mad Eskimo, Métis Fiddler Quartet, and Team Rezofficial are among the other featured performers.

The series, organized by Four Host First Nations Society producer and creative director Sal Ferreras, is part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. The society represents the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, on whose territories the Games will take place.

The nightly shows will begin at 9:30 and 11 p.m. All of the performances are free, with admission first come, first served.

The pavilion will also host daily celebrations to celebrate the cultures of indigenous peoples from across Canada and the world. On February 15, the pavilion will hold a Métis theme day.

Four Host First Nations released today (January 25) the full list of nightly performances scheduled to take place between February 12 and 28 at the Aboriginal Pavilion:

February 12 – Buffy Sainte-Marie
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 13 — Young at Heart
Featuring Sister Says and Inez
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 14 — With One Voice
Featuring Children of Takaya, Garry Oker and Asani
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 15 — String Fever
Featuring the Métis Fiddler Quartet, the Métis Nation Jiggers, Lee Mandeville, Richard Lafferty and Wesley Hardisty
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 16 — Cold Cuts
Featuring Spakwus Slolem, Ian Ross and Sandy Scofield
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 17 — Plain Talking
Featuring Soul Paua and Kinnie Starr
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 18 — Globespotting
Featuring Tjupurru, Adjagas, Kinnie Starr and the Borealis Quartet
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 19 — Independent Power Projects
Featuring Inez, Bitterly Divine and Tjupurru
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 20 — The North South Dialog
Featuring Mad Eskimo, Taqralik Partridge, Phillipe Brault and Pacific Curls
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 21 — Blues Indigo
Featuring Murray Porter, Leanne Goose, Shakti Hayes, Jared Sowan and Pat Braden
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 22 — The Royal House of Hip Hop
Featuring Feenix, Team Rezofficial, Ostwelve, Kaiva and Def 3
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 23 — Drums and Voices
Featuring Valerie Naranjo, Steven Alvarez, Pura Fe and Cary Morin
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 24 — Maximum Exposure
Featuring Bird Runningwater and Eagle and Hawk
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 25 — Tales and Traditions
Featuring Coastal Wolfpack, Whitefish Juniors and Meewasin Oma
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 26 — Theatre of the Soul
Featuring Joy Harjo, Larry Mitchell and Drew Hayden Taylor
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 27 — Crossing Bridges
Featuring Jason Burnstick
9:30pm and 11:00pm

February 28 — The Road Forward
Commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad
Created and Directed by Marie Clements. Featuring Pura Fe, Leela Gilday, Russell Wallace, Byron Chief Moon, Jennifer Kriasberg, Michelle Olson and Kevin Loring.
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Digging Roots
11:00pm - midnight

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