Supercrawl to take over downtown

What started out as a monthly art crawl on James Street North in Hamilton has exploded to an annual festival that celebrates all things creative. Supercrawl is set to take over downtown Hamilton. And for the first time, festivities are starting on a Thursday.

Back in 2009, it was a torrential downpour. But that didn’t stop about 3,000 people from attending the first ever Supercrawl. Since then the festival has grown exponentially.

Organizers are expecting anywhere between 125 to 150-thousand people. And this isn’t just a music festival. Supercrawl celebrates art, literature, talks, aerial performances and of course, food. But before James Street is closed Friday at 10am, organizers gathered all their Supercrawl gear and are getting the help of hundreds of volunteers to help set up. However, there are already some signs that Supercrawl is just a couple hours away. Several art galleries and outdoor pieces can already be seen. This will be an ‘extra super’ Supercrawl. For the first time ever, the free event will span three days instead of two. We spoke with the festival chair and some new artists experiencing Supercrawl for the very first time.

Festival Director Tim Potocic: “Really excited to have that Sunday activation happening. More people have the ability to come down and see it and we have some amazing talent including Daptone Soul Revue that’s going to be performing on Sunday which is a major coup to get them to come to Hamilton to perform for us.”

Artist Natalie Hunter: “I’m an emerging artist. I just graduated in 2013 from the University of Waterloo. And to able to come back to my home city where I was born and be a part of this big cultural event that is becoming well know is really, really amazing to me to be a part of.”

Artist Dean Drever: “It’s a festival that grows every year and it’s largely privately funded. It’s pretty amazing.”

This is Dean’s sculpture here called Bear Hunt. It’s bears coloured in fluorescent orange, much like a hunter. No word on what exactly they’re hunting — perhaps berries or salmon.

Supercrawl is a free event that kicks off tonight at the Molson Canadian Studio Theatre at Hamilton Place. That is a paid concert. You can also see A Tribe Called Red as well as River Tiber. And at 11pm you can make your way to This Ain’t Hollywood and watch Rich Aucoin.