Up and away: Up Fest officially launches

Up Fest officially launched on Aug. 13 with a kick-off party at the Townehouse Tavern.

Dozens packed into the venue to hear about what is in store for the three day festival that organizers hope will boost Sudbury's reputation as an art destination.

“Nothing has ever been done like this here so we're learning about it right now,” said Andrew Knapp, who, along with Christian Pelletier is the co-founder of Up Fest. “It's murals, it's art installations, it's music, and it's all downtown within venues that we already have.”

The two took time to thank and credit all of their supporters and participants, from artists who painted murals on the walls of local businesses, to the musicians who will perform at an array of venues in the city's downtown.

One of those supporters is Barrydowne Paint, and Kelly Scott from the locally owned and operated business spoke about their contribution of supplying paint for the seven murals that will adorn downtown walls.

“My family opened their first paint store in 1971 and at that time there was this enormous sense of pride in opening a business in downtown Sudbury,” said Scott.

“Three generations later we're still with paint and our passion behind that is that paint has this amazing transformative power, and in this case Barrydowne Paint is experiencing that power to revitalize the heart of our city.”

Leading up to the kick-off, Pelletier and Knapp promised that there would be a surprise in store and they did not disappoint when they introduced Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger as “DJ Your Worship” aka “DJ B Bigga”.

The Mayor took the stage sans his usual formal attire with headphones in tow, in preparation for performing a DJ set for those in attendance.

“This is about Sudbury being a hockey town, it's about Sudbury being the happiest city in all of Canada, it's about Sudbury being amazing and lots of fun,” said Bigger.

“Expect lots of surprises from these two guys.”