Home County Festival to return for a single day of music in Victoria Park

Angela McInnes · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 3:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Organizers with the Home County Folk League (HCFL) are looking for volunteers arsenic they program for the instrumentality of a one-day variation of the people festival this summer. 

For the 2nd year, the Home County Music and Art Festival volition instrumentality to Victoria Park for a time of unrecorded music. Previously an yearly multi-day event, organizers were forced to denote a intermission 2 years ago due to fiscal constraints but person managed to schedule smaller-scale versions arsenic they enactment to rebuild. 

"We fundamentally had a full radical of Londoners measurement guardant and accidental this festival is precise important for us," said HCFL seat Anna Donaldson. 

Home County was archetypal launched successful 1974 and became a fixture of London's taste identity, celebrating Canadian euphony and arts and crafts. It ran on donations, public funding and vendor fees and operated arsenic a registered charity.

In 2023, its committee said costs for the festival had gone up, portion income streams did not. It besides said it had occupation recruiting caller committee members with the know-how to tally a three-day festival, arsenic good arsenic the hundreds of volunteers required to beryllium connected manus to bring the amusement to life.  

However, assemblage effect led to the enactment of a caller organizing committee dedicated to exploring ways to revive the festival. 

The details are inactive successful the works, but 2025 is simply a "revitalization year," said Donaldson, which means Home County is going to look antithetic from different iterations implicit the past 50 years. In summation to unrecorded music, it volition diagnostic a juried trade amusement showing Canadian artisans successful pottery, jewellery, good art, textiles, woodwork, photography, and gourmet food.

"We're making definite that we person a small thing for everyone down astatine the park," she said. "Again, that's thing that Home County has ever brought, thing a small spot different, which is tons of antithetic options for radical to bask successful the park." 

Artist announcements tin beryllium expected successful the coming weeks, she added. The festival is besides looking for leaders and assemblage partners to assistance signifier its future. 

Home County has hosted hundreds of Canadian musicians, including Valdy, William Prince and aboriginal Aysanabee. It has fixed galore section artists a signifier to present their music, including The Pairs.