Take in Skeleton Park Arts Fest at home

The 15th annual Skeleton Park Arts Fest (SPAF) will be moving mostly online this year in light of COVID-19.

Although many of the live events will be happening in cyberspace, initiatives have been created to offer socially distant arts experiences in-person in the neighbourhood, including the Next Door art show, which includes artists sharing their work outside their homes, and a delivery program that calls on performance artists to do contactless deliveries around the neighbourhood (called ‘SPAF-O-GRAMS’).

Some of the virtual events will include the festival being kicked off with the screening of a documentary about the life and music by trans elder musician Beverly Glenn Copeland, which is being co-present by Kingston Pride, Kingston Canadian Film Festival, ReelOut and the Screening room, on Thursday, Jun. 18, 2020. There will be a virtual coffeehouse and other musical and theatrical performances throughout the weekend.

The festival’s art director, Greg Tilson, says that even through difficult times, the arts are a necessary outlet and a means to bring people together, even if it’s only virtually.

“Even in times of hardship, SPAF believes that the arts have something unique to offer to our neighbourhood,”said Tilson. “We hope that the events we’ve planned will offer the Skeleton Park neighbourhood that same festive feeling we’ve all come to love, while supporting artists in a tangible way.”

He said that he is also excited to showcase the arts in a new, non-traditional way.

“The exciting thing about this new way of presenting is that we can welcome friends and fans to join the festival experience from anywhere in the world,” said Tilson. “Until we can all get together in the park again, SPAF is going to be bringing  arts and connection to our community in every way we can.”

All the events are free and open to everyone. For information regarding the lineup and how to book a “SPAF-O-GRAM” live performance, visit this site.