2024 Fall Festival of Victoria Village
Victoria Village Fall Festival Schedule of Events
Saturday, October 5th 10 am – 5pm
Sidewalk sale and promotions by merchants on Sherbrooke Street and Victoria Ave.
Westmount Children’s Book Authors – book signing and selling
1pm – 3pm next to Prince Albert Square
JUDITH HENDERSON is a children’s content creator and cooks up a lot of stuff. She is an author, illustrator, a composer and has produced children’s television. She also wrote the theme song for the Emmy Award winning PBS show, ARTHUR.
Judith has written over eighteen children’s books, with more on the way! Judith loves dogs, books and coffee, in that order.
ANNE RENAUD is a children’s author who writes in both French and English. Her more than 25 publications feature picture books for kids aged 4 to 8, as well as historical non-fiction books for 9- to 12-year-olds. Her titles include: The Boy who Invented the Popsicle: The Cool Science Behind Frank Epperson’s Famous Frozen Treat, Albertine Petit-Brindamour déteste les choux de Bruxelles, which won the OLA’S Prix Peuplier and the Prix des libraires du Québec, and Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament, which won the QWF’s Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Anne is also a regular contributor to children’s magazines. She lives and writes in Westmount, Quebec.
Activities
11am to 4pm Children’s face painting with Diva
Children’s face Painting with the fun and talented Diva – back by popular demand! Next to Prince Albert Square
11am to 2pm Mask making Workshop
Hosted by the Visual Arts Centre – come create fun masks – in front of the Visual Arts Centre at 350 Victoria
11 to 4pm Pumpkin Decorating Workshop*
Come decorate a pumpkin to take home. Pumpkins and decorations provided. Next to Prince Albert Square
*Sponsored by Group Christina Miller
Live Music on Victoria Ave.
12:30pm – 4:00pm Dimo James – in front of Westmount Florist
Armed with just an acoustic guitar and distinctive voice, Dimo James brings a raw, soulful energy to his solo acoustic shows, interpreting beloved classics that have shaped generations. His unique style blends nostalgia with personal passion, turning timeless songs into something deeply personal and new.
Live Music in Prince Albert Square
12:20pm – 1:00pm Ema Jean
Born and raised by two musicians, Ema Jean has been singing, writing songs and performing for most of her life. She started playing her own music in coffeehouses and dive bars in Montreal as a teenager, releasing her first album, Solace, in 2015. She went on to study vocal jazz at the University of North Texas and the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona. Ema lived and honed her craft in Spain for the next 5 years, releasing a wildly popular single in 2018, Telephone Wires, and 2 more albums: Room For Fascination (2019) and Emanuelle Kami (2022). Ema has performed at a plethora of venues including Jamboree (Barcelona), Upstairs (Montreal), Ghost Gallery (Brooklyn) and the Andalusian Centre for Contemporary Art (Seville). She has performed with some of Montreal and Barcelona’s finest contemporary jazz musicians. Ema is currently performing solo in and around Montreal and writing for her next album.
Bandcamp: https://emajean.bandcamp.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emajeanmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emajeanyo
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5xSNrzS0y7HkxSdHeFYaFF?si=l0mpcw3vQRaoezgMoVBUNg
1:30pm – 2:20pm Brault and Bowser
Josee Brault is a Montreal born singer songwriter well known for her powerful, soulful vocals and hippie vibe. She has travelled the world for music, gathering the feel and poignancy of India, China, Africa, Australia and other countries to create a global sound. George Bowser is one half of Montreal musical comedy legends – Bowser and Blue. His tasteful and refreshing guitar playing often gets overlooked and drowned out by the laughter that fills the halls of their performances, but shines brightly when performing a wide range of familiar and classic covers with Josée.
2:30pm – 2:50pm Amazing Todsky – Magician in the Square
The Amazing Todsky has been amazing and amusing audiences for well over 38.7 years now, and has performed more than 3000 magic shows – that’s no illusion! Be prepared to leave all laws of nature behind as the Amazing Todsky short-circuits the logical brain cells of your mind. You will swoon in wonder at the impossible made possible!
3:10pm – 4:00pm Solstice
Solstice is one of Canada’s most exciting and prolific Celtic folk bands. Based in Montreal, Solstice has been delighting audiences across North America and Europe for over a decade with their explosive live performances of their unique brand of Celtic folk that incorporates elements of Bluegrass and Canadian Maritime music. With Patrick Lesyk on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Dave Gossage on flutes and whistles, and Kate Bevan-Baker on fiddle and vocals, Solstice takes you on an intense musical journey that transcends generations and musical styles.
Street Activities/Performers
11:30am – 2:30pm Zazou – Juggling and circus acts
Amazing circus performer Zazou will amaze you with his juggling, acrobatics and much more! Find him performing around the Village
12:30pm – 3:30pm Amazing Todsky – Magician
The Amazing Todsky has been amazing and amusing audiences for well over 38.7 years now, and has performed more than 3000 magic shows – that’s no illusion! Be prepared to leave all laws of nature behind as the Amazing Todsky short-circuits the logical brain cells of your mind. You will swoon in wonder at the impossible made possible!
12:30pm – 3:30pm Amanda Dandelion
Circus performer and stilt walker par excellence! Look for her on Sherbrooke or Victoria – just look up!
Local Artists
John Baily https://sketchesbyjbailey.com/greene-avenue/
John Bailey has been drawing and painting watercolors for more than 30 years. He began by taking night classes in the early 1990’s while working full time as a business executive. He previously exhibited in the Victoria Hall Gallery several years ago with his landscape watercolors. Starting in the third wave of the pandemic, his ink and watercolor studies of local Montreal scenes have enjoyed considerable popularity. His art has been featured on CTV News as well as enjoyed by the general public on Facebook Montreal Group Pages. This is the first time his originals have been presented in public.
“My art is a collection of watercolors depicting the ordinary everyday scenes that surround us. It uncovers and accents the beauty they each contain. These paintings often evoke feelings of nostalgia, calm, and even serenity. These reactions all help to better our sense of connecting and belonging to our locales.
My process involves first taking on site photographs which capture the perspectives and lighting that I prefer. I then use these photos to draw the subject in graphite and then select which linework to accent with black ink pens. After that, all graphite lines are erased and then several passes of watercolor are applied. The initial drawing is extremely important. I believe that drawing is the grammar of painting.
My style and subject matter reflect the belief that life is more enjoyable if we can see the beauty of our immediate surroundings. “
Anna Gedalof https://www.annagedalofartist.com
Anna G is a Montreal artist who graduated from McGill University in English literature and then bought a one way ticket to France. She won an art scholarship at Université d’Aix-en-Provence, but chose Paris and La Sorbonne instead, to study art history and cinema.
Upon her return to Montreal in the late seventies, she worked in publishing to promote artists including her husband Bruce Roberts.
She has always continued to do her own artwork underground. Her inspiration is colour, paint, line and gesture where simple objects take on their own life. Somewhere between abstraction and figurative. An amalgam of memory and present observation.