Sled Island’s main activity is the annual Sled Island Music and Arts Festival that takes place in June. For five days, the festival takes over the city’s downtown core and showcases 200 + musical acts, plus visual arts, comedy, and special events. On average, of the 200+ artists showcased annually, about 70 are local and 120 are from Alberta. In our 18 years of existence, we have presented 955 unique local musical acts, programmed over 159 spaces, and partnered with 584 non-profit organizations, charities, and businesses.
By participating in the festival, emerging musicians get to share the stage with established international acts who often inspired them, to develop their audience by playing on large stages, and build relationships with their peers from across the country, as well as with industry professionals who attend the festival each year to scout talent. The multi-disciplinary aspect of our programming also results in audience crossover and widens the scope of the artists’ reach.
A crew of 275 volunteers donate their time and energy annually to help us carry out our activities. Beyond being crucial to our operations, our volunteer program allows us to engage with Calgarians from all walks of life. We offer many opportunities with different schedules, skills, and responsibility levels meant to make the program accessible to all.
Sled Island strives to be more than an arts presenter and to show leadership as a community stakeholder. Our bike advocacy work has played an important role in the development of biking infrastructure in the city, from bike racks to bike lanes.
Anti-racism, equity, and accessibility are core values of our organization. In 2017, we were one of the first festivals in North America to develop a comprehensive Safer Spaces and Inclusion Policy, which aims to make the festival a safe and welcoming environment for all and remove barriers for marginalized and minority communities to participate.
Sled Island is dedicated to offering substantial and high-quality all-ages programming (in venues accessible to people under 18). We believe it is crucial to expose the new generation of artists and art enthusiasts to a broad range of music and art in order to inspire them, broaden their horizons, and help them develop critical thinking.
Outside of the festival, we partner with various organizations in and outside of the arts sector to present shows and other one-of-a-kind events. Among them is the Sled Island Rock Lotto, where 25 local musicians’ names are drawn at random to form brand new bands, who are then given less than 8 hours to write new material and perform it on stage that same night in front of an audience. Over the past two years, we have been using this event as an outreach tool to the newcomer community, to help newcomer musicians get a foot in the door of the local music scene. We have been working with the Centre for Newcomers, CCIS, and the Immigrant Council for Art Innovation to recruit participants. We are currently planning a special edition of the Rock Lotto, in partnership with the National accessArt Centre, which will focus on creating opportunities for musicians with a disability.
We are always looking for volunteers to help with our year-round events as well as bingos and casinos, which are an important part of our fundraising strategy. Volunteer opportunities for the festival itself are advertised on our website around April each year. For more information about volunteering with us, please contact [email protected] or call our office at 403.229.2901.
Donations to our organization can be made via our website (www.sledisland.com/donate) or via cheque made out to Sled Island Arts Fellowship and mailed to: 2206a 4th Street S.W., Calgary, AB, T2S 1W9. For more information on this, please contact [email protected].