When I think of SweetWater Music Festival, there are many experiences that come to mind. One of the most memorable is an afternoon spent canoeing up the Sydenham River to a backyard concert near Harrison Park. It stands out because it was such a cool way to incorporate Owen Sound’s natural beauty with Owen Sound’s love for music.
As I looked around at all the kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards forming a floating audience, I had a thought: this SweetWater team knows how to create some unique programming!
Over the years, it’s become apparent that the Sweetwater team is full of great ideas. Each year, under the Artistic Direction of Edwin Huizinga, they’re consistently finding cool ways of connecting locals with jazz and classical music. They’ve held late night jazz shows, Sound Journey yoga classes, Music for Munchkins, composers in residence, concerts, galas, and jams. They’ve hosted events at multiple venues across Owen Sound and Meaford including Harmony Centre, The Roxy Theatre, Heartwood Hall, Meaford Hall, Georgian Bay School for the Arts, Grey Roots, and Grey Gallery.
So, I wasn’t surprised to hear that in 2025, they’re expanding into new regions and new programming. If you think that SweetWater is satisfied with only one week of bringing world class musicians to Grey County, think again. For starters, they’re bringing back the Springtime Live at the magical Leith Church on May 23. And the evening before, they’re hosting a concert in Thornbury at the LE Shore Library, a new venue for Sweetwater that can host 90 audience members in its beautiful gallery.
“This year is going to be an extension [of SweetWater] by going to new neighbourhoods like Thornbury, but also adding more education,” says Edwin about the new programs that SweetWater is bringing. “I’m trying to find ways of doing a couple more things through the year. I’m expanding the spring concert into a five-day residency, so people actually get to meet the artists.”
It’s something that I’ve always enjoyed about SweetWater: the artists are all so accessible while they’re here. They come from all over Canada, and this year especially, SweetWater is showcasing Canadians. “It’s going to be a piano quintet and they’re all Canadians,” Edwin emphasizes. He’s always showcased Canadian musicians who are doing well abroad to make sure we appreciate our own homegrown talent. For instance, this past September he brought Canadian cellist Karen Ouzounian, as well as Rachel Fenlon, a Canadian who has been taking off worldwide.
“We’re going to play some Canadian works,” he says of this year’s programming. “The big chamber piece is the Schuman Piano Quintet, which is epically, beautifully amazing,” he says.
The Leith and Thornbury concerts will be different, so music fans can attend both if they like. It’s this kind of planning and foresight that makes SweetWater such a premiere festival. Edwin Huizinga is also going to perform for local schools on Wednesday morning at the Harmony Centre because kiddos love music too!
And speaking of the youth, SweetWater is excited to announce a program that’s been in the works for a little while now: SweetWater’s own amateur string group. They’re called the SweetStrings and offer amateurs, young and old, a chance to play the strings all year long with help from some grant funding.
“When I’m there with my friends in May for a week, on that Tuesday night we’re going to have a fun session where I bring in some pros [to play with the Sweet Strings],” he says.
It’s about connecting all music lovers in the region: young and old, experienced and fledgling, classical fans and jazz fans. “More and more I realize how community-oriented SweetWater is, and how people love to see their friends out,” says Edwin. He loves how quick locals are to offer up their homes for after-parties and hosting musicians. It takes a community and the SweetWater community is a generous one, a vibrant one. Every time I attend a SweetWater event, whether it be the Gala at Grey Roots or the closing concert at Meaford Hall, I’m always surrounded by energetic music lovers who are community supporters to their core.
Whether you attend the Leith concert, the Thornbury concert, the week-long September Festival, or enrol your kid in the Sweet Strings, there is something waiting for you at SweetWater, something unique, something interesting.
“I want to make sure that every year there’s something very different and exciting,” says Edwin as we finish our chat. I’d say he’s accomplished that for this year, but I know there are likely a few more surprises up his sleeve for 2025.
If you’d like to attend the Springtime Live Concerts or the SweetWater Music Festival in September, you can find tickets at sweetwatermusicfestival.ca
See you at SweetWater!
Written by Jesse Wilkinson
Photos by John White
