Kazoo! Fest

The Guelph Black Heritage Society is a hugely important group in Guelph doing really crucial work in our community. The GBHS holds a special place with Kazoo! Fest, as they have graciously allowed us use of their beautiful church to put on some of our most memorable shows. These are just a few of our favourite performances over the years at Heritage Hall from Un Blonde (aka Yves Jarvis), Platitudes, Cris Derksen, and Nicole Rampersaud & Germaine Liu. We will always support ...this group, and we stand in solidarity with BIPOC who are unfairly targeted by the police and the morally bankrupt and corrupt capitalist system that the police uphold. We have made a donation to the GBHS and we encourage you to give to the GBHS or Guelph’s new Black Lives Matter organization at one of the links below. We are happy to discuss these issues with anyone interested, but feel now is the time to cede space and point you towards important writings by people of colour that know much more about these issues. Thank you, and please donate if you are able to. https://www.guelphblackheritage.ca/ https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-lives-matter-guelph-solida Further Reading: https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/policy_options_for_defund https://www.pivotlegal.org/17_years_of_police_violence_in_c https://www.thestar.com//desmond-cole-and-the-case-for-def https://www.macleans.ca//we-have-nothing-to-lose-but-our-/ https://theintercept.com//ruth-wilson-gilmore-makes-the-c/ https://thatsatruestory.wordpress.com/ https://www.huffingtonpost.ca//defund-police-canada-black- https://canadiandimension.com//yes-canada-has-a-racism-cri

Our friends over at Everyseeker in Halifax (FKA Obey Convention) are running a month and a half long online festival -- and it's all, incredibly, free. As usual, it follows Everyseeker's trend of programming diverse and mind blowing artists (including Kazoo! favs like Marisa Anderson music, JOYFULTALK, Lo Siento to name a few) and we can't wait for it. It kicks off on May 15th and runs to June 30th -- Get into it!

In a parallel universe, Kazoo! Fest 2020 is kicking off tonight with a warehouse party at Kazoo! HQ. Artists and festival-goers are on their way to Guelph from across Ontario, across Canada, and around the world. Kazoo! organizers and volunteers are scrambling to get venues across town ready for a multi-venue city-wide party. And everyone is making a plan for their Kazoo! Fest weekend, sharing secrets about which shows can’t be missed, spreading rumours about after parties, a...Continue reading

Support artists during this incredibly difficult time, little gestures will go a long way right now. Bandcamp are waiving their fees on any purchases today. We've also left our 2020 artist lineup on our website, these are just a few of the many artists who could use your support today

We are absolutely heartbroken to share this news but in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to move ahead with Kazoo! Fest 2020 in April. This was an incredibly difficult decision for us. Over the years, we have taken pride in our DIY commitment to making things happen under any circumstances, but this rapidly escalating situation calls for drastic measures to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our community. We are working out next steps and plan...ning to reschedule the festival for the fall. Our main priority right now is ensuring the safety of the artists, audiences, staff, and volunteers who make up the Kazoo! community. We plan to refund all individual event tickets in the coming week. We will be contacting all Crony Pass holders to see if you would like to hold onto your festival passes for now or take a refund. Please be patient with us, as it will take some time to sort out the specifics of this unprecedented situation. During these difficult times, please support independent artists in whatever way you can by purchasing music, ordering merch, or even making donations to support those artists who will be most affected by these cancellations. Over the coming days and weeks, please look out for the health of the most vulnerable people and keep the lines of communication open. If you have questions or concerns, we encourage you to get in touch by email [email protected]. Thanks for your love and support, we’ll keep you posted on our plans as they develop. Please be safe and take care of each other

In the midst of the COVID-19 situation JOYFULTALK has decided to cancel their upcoming tour which includes the Sunday, March 15th performance at Silence. In light of this we will not be moving forward with that evenings show. Any tickets purchased will be reimbursed and if you have any questions or concerns please email us at [email protected]. Kazoo! x Silence Presents - Joyfultalk / Joyful Joyful

Mike Von Dehn has been a long time supporter of the arts community in Guelph and his continued support of Kazoo! Fest and Guelph's community has been invaluable. If you are in the market for real estate in Guelph, he's certainly the one for the job! Much love and thanks to Mike for supporting Kazoo! Fest in our final year!

Check out the new video from Eliza Niemi and don't miss them at Silence with Sandro Perri Sunday April 19th at Kazoo! Fest 2020

Kazoo! Fest 2020our final festival kicks off in less than 6 weeks, you ready? Schedule is up, advance tickets & Crony Passes on sale now at https://kazookazoo.ca . . Video by Colin Harrington / Music by SLEDD

We couldn't be more excited to be co-presenting with Silence JOYFULTALK's return to Guelph after their amazing performance at Kazoo! Fest 2019. Read about why they rule, and come out next Sunday to see it yourself! Kazoo! x Silence Presents - Joyfultalk / Joyful Joyful

Kazoo! Fest couldn't run without the dedication of our volunteers, and we could use a few more! Sign up below and join the fun for one last time. https://kazookazoo.ca/booking-contact/volunteer/

"I’ll say that I am generally pretty hard to please where lyrics are concerned, but surely none who listen could deny the plain fact that they know how to turn a phrase or two over at Westelaken." - Chris Worden on Why Westelaken Rules. Don't miss them with Puzzlehead and Habit @ ANAF at Kazoo! Fest 2020

Kazoo! Fest 2020 schedule is live Start mapping out your plans for April 16-19th, 2020 & get your tickets!