Today the organizers behind the Afternoon Delight music & arts festival made the announcement that the event won’t be happening this year.
In a Facebook announcement, key-organizer Matthew ‘Papi’ Papineau of Art Jam Productions stated that he’ll be taking some time away from the festival to pursue other interests. “The big reason is I need a break from volunteering my time to the arts scene. Putting 1500 hours a year over the past three years into artistic events was a beautiful way to begin the learning process for me as an entertainment event coordinator.”
The festival took place last year on the 4th of July in Penobsquis, outside of Sussex. This summer would have been the fourth consecutive year for the event. Afternoon Delight was known for being a relatively family friendly event, supporting local arts & craft vendors, and capable of bringing in talented bands from some distance (last year’s headliners were tribal-jazz trio Moon Hooch from Brooklyn). Short and sweet, Afternoon Delight was a parsed down one day event. A comparative vacation from the other multi-day festivals in the province, it was intended as a bit of a breather.
The charm of Afternoon Delight also came from the smaller crowds, five hundred people at most, camping out over night in a field. In an interview last year Papineau expressed his enthusiasm for the project, but not without a hint of the stress weighing in, “We’d love to see the festival as an annual thing; a small grass-roots festival, staying small, staying intimate. A lot of festivals lose the vibe of the intimacy. I’d love to collaborate with the town of Sussex, and show them we have the ability to have an economic spill-off. Working on an event for ten months of the year, it’d be really great to have support from them.”
“My daughter comes here each year. She’s two and a half, and she can just run around and have fun, and be a part of music, and art, and that kind of culture. I want my daughter to be raised in a place where she can experience that creativity and magic of people expressing themselves in a really cool way.”
Below is the announcement as posted:
“Hello Friends & Family,
Art Jam Productions, Afternoon Delight, will not be taking place this year.
After many months of thought and consideration I have decided to take a break this year from producing the 4th edition of Afternoon Delight Music & Arts Festival.
I have had many life changing experiences over the past 6 years that have drastically shifted my focus, goals and dreams. I feel very blessed to be where I am now and to be the human that I have become because of my experiences over these years.
If it wasn’t for the amazing full-heart-power Atlantic Canadian Arts, Music & Performance community that Art Jam Productions & Afternoon Delight has had a hand in developing, I would not have a network of loyal and loving friends that make up the community I am a part of today.
Thank you all for your support and love! Stay tuned for Bigger, Better & More Artistically Inspiring events in the future produced and co-produced by yours truly!”