For more than 20 years, Sappyfest has been a model for community-led grassroots festivals with our adventurous programming and professional presentation. At its heart, Sappyfest remains grounded in Sackville, NB (now part of the Town of Tantramar): we connect regional musicians, visual artists, and writers with their national and international peers, while artists that wouldn’t otherwise come to this part of the country due to demographics, population, and cost obstacles are presented in a professional setting to a receptive and enthusiastic festival crowd seeking diverse cultural alternatives. The importance of our presentation in this community has only increased in recent years, with the loss of many year-round venues in Sackville.
Our annual festival has been held on the August long weekend every year since 2006, bringing together musicians, poets, visual artists, dancers, and performers in a celebration of human creativity. We have presented more than 400 artists including musical performances by Alan Syliboy and The Thundermakers, Aquakultre, Beverly Glenn Copeland, Constantines, Cris Derkson, Charles Bradley, Haviah Mighty, Jeremy Dutcher, Jerry Granelli, Julianna Riolino, Julie Doiron, Lido Pimienta, Lee Renaldo, Mama’s Broke, Michael Hurley, OMBIIGIZI, Owen Pallet, Ribbon Skirt, Slash Need, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, U.S. Girls, and Willie Thrasher; readings, presentations, and artists projects by Colleen Coco Collins, Niko Stratis, Sue Goyette, Emma Healey, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Sean Michaels, Rita McKeough, Daniel Barrow, Shary Boyle, and many more.
The first Sappyfest was held in 2006, centred on a small stage in a parking lot beside the artist-run centre Struts Gallery, and shows at George’s Roadhouse and the Vogue Cinema. Legendary Moncton, NB indie-rock/lo-fi group Eric’s Trip performed two reunion shows for the festival. In 2008, Sappyfest moved to its current location on Bridge Street with a larger stage and a larger tent. In the following years, Sappyfest audiences continued to grow and programming continued to expand and diversify, prioritizing artists with grounded, community-embedded practices who work towards nurturing independent and alternative cultures within or external to the mainstream Canadian music scene.
Unable to host our usual festival in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we presented immersive alternative programming. Sappyfest: Near and Far (2020) included online artist talks and musical performances, a publication of new poetic and graphic works by fifteen contributing artists delivered by mail, a phone-in hotline that connected audiences with artists for one-on-one performances and conversations, a series of radio programs on CHMA 106.9 FM, and a 44m tall projection of a specially filmed performance by Lido Pimienta and a series of short films curated by Struts Gallery and Owens Art Gallery. Sappyfest: Infinite Variety (2021) presented over 50 artists, collectives, and creative community members, and more than 20 live performances in a 26-hour live stream broadcast from within Struts Gallery. We consider this community’s creative, collective response to the unique challenges of that time as one of our successes.
In 2022, Sappyfest successfully hosted a live festival for the first time since 2019 and faced minimal Covid-19-related disruption by maintaining a comprehensive set of safety measures.
In 2025 Sappyfest celebrated its 20th anniversary with our largest festival since before the pandemic shutdowns: it was a reaffirmation of collective dreaming, a gathering of continued potentials and possibilities.
And so we continue, still Sappy after all these years!