After revealing muralists and the highly anticipated return of Up Here Square, Sudbury’s urban art and music festival is welcoming live music back to town with a series of free outdoor concerts—including Marie Davidson, Cadence Weapon, Zoon, and more local acts—taking place on Durham Street in downtown Sudbury from August 20 to 22, 2021.

The festivities kick-off with an electronic music night on Friday, August 20 featuring the existential pop of Montreal’s Marie Davison et L’Oeil Nu performing alongside the glitter-soaked pop of NYSSA and local knob twiddler The 555.

Polaris-shortlisted hip-hop artist Cadence Weapon will headline a hip-hop night alongside Ethiopian-born and Montréal-based rapper Naya Ali and local rapper Jor’Del Downz on Saturday, August 21. Festival goers will remember Naya Ali from her performance at the base of the Superstack in Copper Cliff during the 2019 Up Here Mystery Tour.

And to cap things off on Sunday, August 22, Hamilton-based Ojibway artist Zoon will play his signature moccasin-gaze sounds with local post-punk legends Casper Skulls and Sudbury’s own folk-country songstress Julie Katrinette.

The outdoor concerts are pay-what-you-can, and donations will be accepted onsite or at uphere.com/donate. Strict health and safety measures will be in place at Up Here Square.

The Up Here app

The official Up Here app has been updated with this year’s programming, and festival-goers are encouraged to install it for free to stay in the know: to be the first to find out about pop-up shows, consult the full schedule, discover this year’s artists, and take in self-guided mural tours. More artists will be announced leading up to the festival through the official Up Here app on social media.

Up Here 7 is a reimagined urban art and music festival tailored to the current climate. The festival known for its creation of new murals around the city and presenting emerging artists runs Friday, August 20 to Sunday, August 22, 2021 and is presented by Downtown Sudbury. Up Here Square, the festival’s main site—adorned with its 10-metre-high geodesic dome, pop-up bar, and DJs—will open to the public a week before the festival, on August 13, 2021.

Up Here is made possible thanks to the community support of countless allies, including Presenting Sponsor Downtown Sudbury, Barrydowne Paint, Equipment World, Greater Sudbury Utilities, the Ontario Arts Council, the government of Ontario, Ontario Creates, the City of Greater Sudbury, Sudbury Tourism, RBC Royal Bank, Duplicators, Collège Boréal, Rainbow Schools, Studio123, and many more. To partner up with Up Here, visit UpHere.com.

Up Here brings back live music

The Up Here app