Friday, September 22 + Saturday, September 23
@ venus fest 2023
It’s OK* studios

This year we are introducing a new arts market as part of our festival: Vazaar! We will have a curated group of artistans offering beautifully crafted works including jade jewelry from scratch, abstract silver body ornaments and high fashion head pieces. Access to Vazaar is included in festival admission. All artists keep 100% of their proceeds.

Featuring works from:

Kabute by Yung Guava @kabute.world
Cedar Eve @cedareve
Knot Naked @KnotNaked

Studio Gabo

@a__gabo

kïkeyah

@kikeyah

Morel Support

@hellomorelsupport

Sad Girl Ceramics by Zuha

@lonelygirlphenomenology

Soie Lait

@soie.lait

Ableton Workshop with Maylee Todd

Friday, September 22, 2023
11AM to 1PM
It’s OK* (Upper Level)

Capacity: 20 Participants
Free with Festival Wristband / PWYC Suggested $20 Without Wristband

In the first hour, we will be building a track in clip view, learning about midi and building a drum loop, bass line, chords, and top line. In the second hour, we will work on further arrangement with vocal samples and add visuals for live performance.

Please bring a laptop with Ableton already installed on it.
** We apologize that due to the nature of the venue, this workshop is not wheelchair accessible


Click here to sign up

Maylee Todd

Maylee Todd is a multimedia/Inter- artist; incorporating a wide range of artistic disciplines; Performance Art, Songwriting, Music Production, Dance, AR/VR Performance, and curation.

Maylee has created a series of Multi-Media Theatre experiences paired with her full-length self-produced records; Summerworks Presents "Maylee Todd's Musical Planetarium (2013), Summerworks Presents "Inamorata" (2016), "Virtual Womb" (2015- 2019), which toured internationally at Tokyo Billboard Live, Fringe Manila, was featured on CBC's Exhibitionists and toured domestically. "Psychonaut Experiments" (2018-2020) was a theatre experience in tandem with her community and mentorship program featuring performers in the alternative art scene, "MALOO" (2022)  which is a multimedia show that incorporates live motion capture and story with her album MALOO that tells the story of an avatar traveling through the multiverse dealing with mental health and identity challenges. This project has got Maylee a lot of attention, Maylee won 'Best Creative Campaign' for the AIM Awards in the UK, was the very first avatar to perform live on NPR's Tiny Desk Home Concert Series, and played a live avatar performance at the Lincoln Centre in New York, where it has landed her as a curator for a "Woman in Tech Series" in 2024. Currently, she is recording another record using brain waves converted into sound to play her synths live, this will be released with LA label Stones Throw.

3-Day Wristbands

$40 advance / $45 door (+ fees and taxes)

Venus Fest 3-Day Wristband includes admission into all three shows (September 21, 22, 23) at 468 Queen St W. at OK* Studios.

Individual Tickets

$20 advance / $25 door (+ fees and taxes)

Individual tickets includes admission to one show (September 21, 22, or 23) at 468 Queen St W. at OK* Studios.






All festival nights will feature a dynamic venue art installations by Yung Guava, Mifi Mifi + Cedar Eve, ASL Music Interpretation by Phoenix the Fire, and a Restorative Zone with curated activities for those who need a small sensory break or pause from the excitement. Graphic design by Natasha Whyte-Gray.

We strongly encourage all attendees to treat each other with respect and care. We are committed to a practice of safety, inclusivity, and connection. We will continue to grow and learn in order to hold this commitment.

468 QUEEN ST W ACCESSIBILITY INFO

468 Queen St W. has a double door with no steps at the entrance. Once inside the venue there are steps leading to the second floor, performances will be held on the first floor. Our Restorative Zone will be near the entrance, with community engagement activities and more TBA. Merch tables are located on the second floor. Bathrooms will be all-gender for this event. There is a single-person washroom located on the first floor of the venue to the back right. There are additional (2) single-person washrooms located on the second floor of the venue at the back. The venue is general admission (standing room), but there will be a limited number of seats near the stage and near the entrance for accessibility. If you have any accessibility needs or questions, please contact us here.

SPACE POLICY

We are committed to a practice of safety, inclusivity, and connection. We will continue to grow and learn in order to hold this commitment.

We do not tolerate any form of homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, ageism, sexual harassment, assault, discrimination, or violence. Any attendee showing the above will have the opportunity of one conversation with staff on how their behaviour is harmful. Should they continue, the attendee will be removed. Instigators of sexual assault or violence will be removed without warning.

Core staff have received safer space and anti-oppression training to better support our community. Please ask for us at the door if you need someone to talk to at a Venus Fest event.

If you have any questions, or if there are specific additional measures you’d like to see to help you feel safe and respected at our events, please get in touch and we will do our best to honour them.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Venus Fest acknowledges that the land that we meet on is the traditional territory of many Nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We acknowledge the federally signed Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Williams Treaties, signed by 7 Chippewa and Mississauga Nations, and the traditional Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Treaty signed between the Nations to protect these lands and waters.

As an organization, we are working to learn more about the land we are on, and to find ways of honouring Indigenous sovereignty in our programming, in our operations, and in financial reparations wherever possible. We also acknowledge that we have a lot more work to do as an organization, and much more to learn. If you are a settler, we urge you to take some time with us to reflect and learn about the history of the land on which you live, the Indigenous communities who have cared for the land and water, and how you might participate in restoring justice.