Sled Island announced cancellation policy for pass holders
Sled Island pass holders will be able to receive a full refund if they request one before Aug. 27. However, Sled Island has asked that pass holders who have not been affected by the flood and who do not need the money forgo requesting a refund. Refunding all individual tickets and passes would cost Sled Island up to $200,000, affecting the festival’s ability to operate and return in future years. Total losses had been projected at $500,000 with the loss of individual ticket sales, passes and the sale of alcohol during the festival. Sled Island is unable to recover 70 per cent of the festival’s expenses.
If pass holders request a refund before Aug. 27, they will receive their refund within three weeks of the cutoff date.
Sled Island is providing two alternatives to requesting a refund for pass holders. Pass holders who do not request a refund will receive a commemorative t-shirt and further benefits that have yet to be announced — potentially tickets to events held by Sled Island partners. Pass holders can also receive their refund and donate it back to Sled Island through their Invest YYC project to receive the same benefits — commemorative t-shirt and future event tickets — as well as a charitable tax receipt.
To help Sled Island, the Calgary International Film Festival has donated 200 Exp Passes to be given to the first 200 Sled Island pass holders who confirm to forgo their refund on the Sled Island webpage.
The CIFF Exp Pass provides access to more than 175 film screenings during the festival, Sept. 19–29, and costs $200. The Sled Island Festival Discovery Pass costed $199 and provided access to over 250 musical performances, art exhibits, film screenings and comedy shows. However, the Sled Island Festival Discovery Plus Pass, which had provided priority access to events and access to the artist lounge, costed $349.
CIFF hopes that other organizations in Calgary may also provide further incentives to forgoing a refund.
New jazz series lineup
Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts has announced the lineup for its new jazz series. The series will feature four contemporary jazz musicians: Jon Babtiste, Madeleine Peyroux, Kurt Elling and Kenny Garrett.
Twenty-five-year-old, Juilliard-educated jazz pianist Jon Babtiste will be performing on October 16 with his band Stay Human.
American jazz-singer Madeleine Peyroux, who began her music career busking on the streets of Paris at the age of 15, will be coming to the Jack Singer Concert Hall on January 24 to share selections from her latest album, The Blue Room.
Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling is swinging through Calgary on March 21 to share selections from his album 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project, Elling’s tribute to the famous home of music publishers in New York City.
Kenny Garrett, who has played with some of the great jazz artist such as Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, will be at the Jack Singer on April 16 with his quartet to play from his Grammy-nominated album, Seeds from the Underground.
Cancelled exhibit reopened
Avalanche Institute of Contemporary Art was set to close down and move to a new location after the White Heat exhibit June 21–22. Instead the exhibit was closed due to flooding, before the institute had moved. Avalanche had been located across Macleod Trail from the Stampede Grounds.
Reopening in its new location in the basement of 343 11th Ave. SW, Avalanche has reconfigured the exhibit and retitled it Wet Heat.
The art exhibit features installations from Kelly Smith and Gwen Morgan, Joleen Toner and Ashley Ohman and Mohammad Rezaei and Alia Shahab.
Avalanche says that after the exhibition of Wet Heat they will be collaborating with the Untitled Art Society’s Satellite Gallery, which is upstairs on the main floor of Avalanche’s new home. They intend to organize their program schedule to coincide with Satellite Gallery’s — which is currently running Dana Buzzee and Kelly Smith’s exhibit Spellbinder until Aug. 24.