Guelph is known for hitting above its weight when it comes to the arts scene. And that’s seldom so evident as during the five days of the Guelph Jazz Festival, now a traditional rite of autumn It’s the 19th year for the festival started by U of G English professor Ajay Heble, and it’s the third straight year for the Nuit Blanche all-night arts extravaganza that Heble added to the festival after experiencing all-night arts events in big cities.
Guelph is not a big city. But it will display a lot of big-city sophistication during the Nuit Blanche, which runs from sunset Saturday to sunrise Sunday. Check out the festival website (www.guelphjazzfestival.com) for a complete rundown of the mostly musical attractions that night. There’s a long list of free events, indoors and outdoors, at 25 venues including such places as the new Guelph Civic Museum, St. George’s Square and the new Market Square. As Heble said recently, with all the Nuit Blanche offerings, many of them happening simultaneously, the hardest thing for people probably will be choosing what to attend.
The Guelph Jazz Festival, which also has ticketed shows until Sunday as well as free concerts all day Saturday at a jazz tent in front of city hall, aims to present the best in innovative jazz and improvised music from around the world. It’s quite a way to mark the end of summer.