Performers

Wayne Lavallee is a Métis singer-songwriter, actor from Vancouver, raised in Surrey BC. Releasing the album Green Dress in 2004, the album won the Canadian Aboriginal Music Award for album of the year in 2004, he was a Juno Award nominee for Aboriginal Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2005, and won the Canadian Folk Music Award for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year at the 2nd Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2006.

In recent years he has composed music for theatre, film and television, including the films The Road Forward, Red Snow and Bones of Crows. He received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023 for "You Are My Bones", a song cowritten with Marie Clements and Jesse Zubot for Bones of Crows. New album set to be released fall fo 2024.

Billy Joe Green is a Bear Clan Anishinabe. In the true Indigenous linquistic concept of international law his territory is where he lives, travels and wherever his language is spoken.

Becoming one of Canada's premier blues guitar slingers did not come easy. He worked with the determination that would frustrate most musicians; patiently, diligently working to find a place for his music. He has been described as "An incredibly talented, diverse, well-traveled musician'" by the Scene Roots & Blues magazine. The description is well-earned.

Former male model for Elite Fox Meriläinen sat in their drums while his younger brother Cole provided the bass lines as well engineered and mixed the project.

During the recording of the Nadjiwan album ‘Star Nation’, Marc and his two sons recorded several tracks of instrumental dance music for fun to pass the time. It was later that they realized they had a collection of songs that could use lyrics and a vocal melody.

Pat calihou Métis artist is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in slide guitar and Métis blues.

Stars of the North, are a drum group representing the North West Coast people of the Tlowitsis Mumtigala Nation of Alert Bay and the Kwakiutl people of Fort Rupert on Vancouver Island, and the Stolo people of Seabird Island Chilliwack BC.

The Git Hayetsk Dancers are an internationally renowned dance group led in partnership by artist and carver Mike Dangeli (Nisga’a, Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Tsetsaut Nations) and Dr. Mique’l Dangeli (Tsimshian and Tlingit Nations), Assistant Professor in the School of Creative Arts at the University of the Fraser Valley.  

Git Hayetsk means “people of the copper shield” in Sm’algya̱x, the language spoken by the Nisga’a, Tsimshian, and Gitxsan Nations. The copper shield is the highest form of ceremonial wealth shared among their people as well as other First Nations along the Northwest Coast. Their dancers are bonded by their connections to the Sm’algya̱x speaking peoples with distinction in their family ties to the many other Nations in Northern British Columbia, the Yukon, and Southeast Alaska. Since 1999, they have shared their songs and dances at ceremonial and public events in urban and rural communities through Canada, the US, and abroad including Austria, Malaysia, Germany, and Japan.

Winner of the Showcase Showdown 2023, Ojibway comedian Brenda Prince talks about the absurdities of the real world with her unique jokes. 

Fergus Dalton is a Métis dancer who performs and teaches traditional Métis Jigging all across the Lower Mainland. Starting from a young age, Fergus began learning from Lisa Sheppard as one of the Maple Sugar Jiggers. Since then, he has adapted to solo performing and teaching, and carries on the cultural tradition, interlacing stories and history into his performances.

For countless generations First Nations dance played an integral part in defining art and culture. Their share stories behind their songs and dances that go back to time in memorial. Dancing and singing are small aspects of their culture. Each part of their regalia has a history and a story of rights of passage passed down from one generation to the next. 

ROOTS is a Peruvian folklore dance ensemble dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich traditions of Peru through captivating performances and cultural exchange within the communities of British Columbia.

Under the direction of Jessica Roca Muncaster and rooted in Peru's diverse cultural tapestry, Roots dance group showcases the captivating beauty and rhythmic expressions of traditional Peruvian folklore. Drawing inspiration from indigenous, European, and African influences, they pay homage to the vibrant history and cultural heritage of their beloved nation.