23-Date Across-the-Province Tour Announced to Celebrate Ontario’s 150th. Behold ONtour.
Yes, Canada is turning 150 this year, but Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are also celebrating 150 years as provinces. Wanting to throw a great party with great music, the province of Ontario is helping to stage ONtour (geddit?), a 23-date concert series covering big centres (Toronto, London, Ottawa) to places that rarely get big-name gigs (Kenora, Blind River, Timmins). The tour will also touch down in Alderville First Nation (the inaugural gig and their 180th anniversary) and Six Nations of the Grand River.
Oh, and all shows are free. Totally free. No admission to anyone.
Who’s playing? Lineups vary from stop to stop–more than 50 Canadian artists have signed on and at least three are guaranteed to perform at each stop. Artists include:
- Jim Cuddy Band
- Serena Ryder
- Kim Mitchell
- The Tea Party
- Magic!
- Tom Cochrane
- James Barker Band
- Our Lady Peace
- Big Wreck
- Kardinal Offishall
- The Philosopher Kings
- Barenaked Ladies
- Mélanie Brulée
- USS
- Alx Veliz
- Anjulie
- Jonathan Roy
- Coleman Hell
- Scott Helman
- Rivertown Saints
- Michelle Treacy
- Francesco Yates
- DJ Shub
- Karl Wolf
- Next Generation Leahy
- Tyler Shaw
- Midnight Shine
- Mia Martina
Here’s the full tour schedule. More information can be found here.
| Date | Community |
|---|---|
| June 25 | Alderville First Nation |
| June 27 | Toronto |
| July 8 | Blind River |
| July 16 | Sault Ste Marie |
| July 21 | Kitchener |
| July 23 | Barrie |
| July 29 | Ajax |
| August 2 | Peterborough |
| August 3 | London |
| August 5 | Hamilton |
| August 9 | Thunder Bay |
| August 10 | Kenora |
| August 12 | Port Hope |
| August 16 | Huntsville |
| August 19 | Sudbury |
| August 24 | Guelph |
| August 26 | Timmins |
| August 30 | St. Catharines |
| September 1 | Brampton |
| September 2 | Mississauga |
| September 7 | Six Nations of the Grand River |
| September 10 | Markham |
| September 17 | Petawawa |
That looks awesome! But you mention the tour will cover Ottawa, yet I don’t see any dates near Ottawa – the closest being Petawawa and Peterborough (both pretty far out of town). Do you know if other dates are going to be added?