INDIAN SUMMER IS HEATING UP

Indian Summer Festival (ISF), Vancouver’s “festival for the curious mind”, marks its 12th edition with a return to in-person experiences from July 7 to July 17, with both ticketed and free events.

The carefully curated festival speaks to the theme of  Inner/Outer Climates with events hosted on Granville Island and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

“The very essence of a festival is to create a place of gathering,”  says Sirish Rao, Indian Summer Festival’s co-founder and artistic director. “We’ve not been able to feed this basic human need for the last two years, although we did try and create a digital campfire through our online events. We’re thrilled that we can carefully return to events in person, and that our festival hub on beautiful Granville Island affords us indoor and outdoor spaces to enjoy this summer. It couldn’t be more appropriate that our theme this year is Inner/Outer Climates, which reflects our deepest concerns today: our personal health and our planetary health. We have invited a stellar cast of local and global writers, filmmakers, musicians, performers, dancers, artists and healers to address the theme. I believe they will help us dream new ways of living our lives, and there is healing in this process.”

Festival event schedule includes:

Friday, July 8, 8 pm: The O Show. Film screening, discussion and dance party. Tickets: $5/25/45. The O Show documentary looks at the work and life of Orene Askew as a motivational speaker, Squamish Nation Councillor, DJ and inspiration to youth and queer/two-spirit people. The film is followed by a conversation with filmmaker Sharad Kharé and Orene Askew.  DJ O Show will turn the event into a dance party. 

Saturday, July 9, 7 pm: Imaginarium: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, hosted by Sirish Rao and Jarrett Martineau. Tickets: $10/30/50. Imaginarium features a discussion between some of the world’s most noted writers and  thinkers. Naomi Klein, Amitav Ghosh, Robyn Maynard and Leanne Simpson will discuss the personal and political forces that shape our lives and the world, from the global supply chain to colonialism, policing and climate change. Together, they make a vital demand for a different way forward and a poetic call to dream up new ways of ordering earthly life. The evening features live musical performances by Juno award-winning oud/guitarist Gordon Grdina and sitar maestro Mohamed Assani.

Sunday, July 10, 4 pm: Modern Biology with Tarun Nayar at Performance Works. Tickets: $10/30/50. Former Delhi 2 Dublin band founder Tarun Nayar’s latest adventures in music have gone viral on social media. In Modern Biology, he explores the bioelectricity of plants and the sound they produce once connected to a synthesizer. This unique outdoor sonic experience on the grassy seaside amphitheatre at Ron Basford Park, with wireless headsets, sees Tarun bringing music-making mushrooms together with sitar player Sharanjeet Singh Mand in a rare musical collaboration of the natural and human world.

Tuesday, July 12, 6 pm: Off Centre, A Dance Performance by Sujit Vaidya. Tickets: $5/25/45. A stunning and provocative dance performance by noted dancer and choreographer Sujit Vaidya, Off Centre is an exploration of queer identity through dance. The performance is followed by a post-show talkback with dance luminary Lee Su-Feh.

Wednesday, July 13, 8 pm: Grammy Award-winning Musician Arooj Aftab in Concert, co-presented by Indian Summer Festival and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets: $30/45/60. Arooj Aftab was recently nominated for Best New Artist and Best Global Music Performance at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Winning the prestigious award for Best Global Music Performance for her song Mohabbat, the singer, songwriter and composer made history as the first Pakistani artiste to win a Grammy. This is her first appearance in Vancouver and tickets are going fast!

Thursday, July 14, 7 pm: Song of the Breath: an immersion in mind-fulness, art and healing with Yogacharini Maitreyi. Tickets: $5/25/45. An intimate, meaningful integrative healing session led by Indian Summer Festival’s inaugural Artist as Healer Yogacharini Maitreyi. The evening starts with a short film screening of Karma: Song of the Breath, and a discussion on the complex art of inner and outer healing. 

Friday, July 15, 8 pm: 5x15: The Art of the Wild. Tickets: $10/30/50. Since 2014, Indian Summer Festival has hosted the only Canadian iteration of the global speakers series, 5×15, with speakers like Eden Robin-son, Reza Aslan, Ben Okri, Wade Davis, Pico Iyer and Vivek Shraya. The 2022 edition returns with a stellar lineup of writers, musicians, filmmakers and activists to speak of our complex relationship with the wilderness in our inner and outer worlds. Expect a heady, stimulating evening of mind-expanding perspectives.

Saturday, July 16, 8 pm: 12th Anniversary Closing Party. Tickets: $10/30/50. The 2022 Indian Summer Festival wraps its programming with a star-studded musical finale featuring local and global musical alchemists, audiovisual magicians, and a party to be at and remember.

Free weekend programming:

July 10, 17, 11:30 am - 3:30 pm: ISF Sound System brings the sounds of classical and contemporary South Asia to the Granville Island Public Market courtyard over two Sunday afternoons. Expect to catch the duo Glow Motive, the Mohamed Assani Trio, the Surya Brass Band, sitar virtuoso Sharanjeet Singh Mand, tabla maestro Amarjeet Singh and many more. Just show up, grab some delicious food from the market, and listen to music in what might be one of the most stunning urban locations in the world.

July 7-1: Art Installation by Kimira Reddy. ISF Featured Artist set designer Kimira Reddy’s work will be featured in the Ocean Artworks Pavilion throughout the festival run, turning it into a gathering place reminiscent of rural India. 

Full event line-up and tickets at www.indiansummerfest.ca.