Shivering Songs dodged a bullet last year. Held in late-January, the Fredericton-based winter music festival was one of the few to escape the devastating, and often fatal, effects of COVID-19 that has left the rest of the industry reeling. Now, with infection numbers low in New Brunswick, it looks like the festival is going to manage a small miracle again, just in time for the 2021 edition.
Shivering Songs’ organizers have announced the first acts of their 2021 line-up. While the festival has put an emphasis on local acts in the past – Shivering Songs 2020 was dubbed their “Homecoming” event and largely featured New Brunswick performers – this year they’re taking it a step further with what the organizers refer to as “hyperlocal.” The performers announced today, come directly from the immediate pool of Fredericton and the surrounding area, now known as Zone 3.
Topping the list of the announced acts are Polaris Prize and Juno Award-winner Jeremy Dutcher, Grand Theft Bus and The Hypochondriacs, along with Anthony Bryan, Hot Garbage Players, Jerry Faye, John Leroux, Les Chanterelles, Keith Hallett, Kieran Smyth, Kill Chicago, Kylie Fox, Maggie Estey, Mike Bravener & Bluebird, Monark, Montgomery Street Band, Motherhood, Pallmer, Quinn Bonnell, Qwinn, Slumps, Some Dads, Thandiwe McCarthy, and Weak Size Fish.
“We were one of the last festivals to operate in 2020, and we hope to be one of the first in 2021,” said festival co-organizer, Zach Atkinson. “Shivering Songs has always been known as ‘a cure
for the winter blues’ in Fredericton. Our community has been a wonderful source of support over the years, and we need to make Shivering Songs 2021 the best it can be for them. With their help, we can focus our efforts to support local artists and small businesses downtown, as we’ve always done.”
While Shivering Songs will be cooperating with the New Brunswick Department of Public Safety, by reducing venues capacity and implementing stringent safety protocols, organizers say they’re prepared to switch to an online-only version of the festival, should Zone 3 move out of Yellow Phase.
Shivering Songs runs from January 20-24 in Fredericton. Tickets for Jeremy Dutcher (Jan 22) and Grand Theft Bus (Jan 23) will be on sale as of January 5 at 11 AM (AST), exclusively through The Fredericton Playhouse Box Office. The remainder of the festival line-up, schedule and ticketing will be rolled out across the next two weeks.