Khatsahlano! Festival to feature more music and art at July 2013 event

This year, the Kitsilano 4th Avenue Business Improvement Association is teaming up with Music B.C. and 102.7 the PEAK to showcase the top 20 artists chosen during the PEAK Performance Project.

“We’re really excited to have all of these great local musicians performing here at Khatsahlano, and as a part of the PEAK Performance Project—it’s going to be amazing,” Russ Davies, the executive director of the Kitsilano 4th Avenue BIA, told the Straight by phone.

The festival, which will take place on July 13, will feature 50 B.C. bands on 10 to 12 stages—a major expansion from the 40 acts showcased last year, and the 30 groups included in 2011's inaugural event.

The top 20 artists from the PEAK Performance Project will be announced in June. Bands have until April 26 to apply for the project aimed at developing emerging B.C. artists. The 20 finalists go through one week of intensive training, and receive awards to spend toward career development.

Davies said this year’s Khatsahlano will be the biggest event the organization has hosted on 4th Avenue. The free festival, which takes place between Burrard and Macdonald streets, attracted an estimated 80,000 people last July.

The 4th Avenue BIA is also partnering with a new arts agency launched by the former operators of the Waldorf Hotel to curate the arts aspect of the festival.

“We’re definitely going to do a big group show, and we’re talking to some high-profile Vancouver artists about doing tents,” said Danny Fazio from the newly launched creative and arts agency Arrival, which is composed of the same team behind Waldorf Productions.

Davies said festival organizers have given Arrival “carte blanche” to organize the arts programming and guest experience for the festival.

“What they did over at the Waldorf was amazing—it was really imaginative and really interactive and fun, and immersive,” said Davies. “And so we saw that and…we loved what they did, and it happened to really line up that we could partner with them, and they could bring some of that kind of programming over here.”

As it launched its new agency today (March 18), Arrival also detailed its plans to continue the cultural programming it offered at the Waldorf.

“Basically, we’re taking the team that was producing and booking the bands at the Waldorf, and we’recreating an individual entity out of it, and we’re just going to continue doing what we did, which was put on live events, book bands, and make fun things happen,” Fazio said in a phone interview.

The projects the agency has in the works include a relaunch of the food-cart festival held outside the Waldorf last summer, and the development of an arts and culture hub in partnership with other arts organizations, including On Main, New Forms Festival, and The Cheaper Show.

“We felt like one thing that was really important about the Waldorf was this idea of cross-pollination,” Fazio explained. “Our whole thing was basically a multi-concept venue, where there’s tons of different stuff happening, all in one area—and that really lends itself well to getting different types of people together, different age ranges, different interests, and having them all kind of congress in the same area. We feel that that’s really important and that it really creates a cross-pollination of ideas, which is really great for the city.”

The group has also partnered with Rickshaw Theatre owner David Duprey and Rachel Zottenberg to convert the former Fox Cinema into a live music venue, which they hope to launch September 1.

The Khatsahlano! Music + Art Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on July 13. Details on the musical lineup will be announced in mid May.