The 2022 Summer Festival features over 50 events, including:

• An opening waterfront concert at the Windermere Wharf by Big Smoke Brass Band
• A daily outdoor morning movement and meditation series
• A series of visual arts workshops, where participants can learn plein-air painting, textiles, nature journaling, wind chime making, mosaics and screen-printing, featuring artists Greg & Susan Hindle, Melanie Siegel, Rob Elliott, Audrey Mah, Christine Hume, and Sean William Dawson
• A new performing arts series including a fresh take on Shakespeare, a songwriting workshop and a theatre improv workshop
• A collection of lectures and literary events, including a reflection on land ownership with CBC Journalist Craig Desson, a lecture about mapping Muskoka from early indigenous wayfinding to satellite imaging, the 2022 Muskoka Authors Panel, a presentation about the WWII RCAF Women’s Division, and a panel discussing architectural heritage in Windermere.
• Evening musical performances including blues, folk, and opera, plus the Toronto All-Star Big Band and Juno nominees Sultans of String
• A four-film outdoor documentary film series, curated by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, including a beautiful globe-trotting journey celebrating Scrap, the inspirational Okay! (The ASD Band Film), The Talented Mr. Rosenberg story of the Yorkville Swindler, and Tom Wilson’s impactful Beautiful Scars
• Historical walking tours around Windermere Village, including both guided and self-guided (app) options
• A family fun art party with music, art, children’s entertainment, a barbecue by the Windermere Lions Club, and a bake sale by the Windermere Women’s Institute
• New this year is the Muskoka Chautauqua Bookstore featuring their 2022 Reading Circle selections, a display of Muskoka Chautauqua archives, Alcuin Society Book Design Awards winners, and a welcome centre/ticket booth opening July 27th at the Windermere Village Hall.

The 10-day program kicks off with a Festival Welcome and Opening event on Friday, August 5th. This is a great opportunity for new and seasoned festival goers alike to get an overview of the entire festival from each of the festival programmers.

“Chautauqua is about creating and enjoying art and doing it while being fully immersed in a sense of place,” says Gayle Dempsey, who is co-founder of the festival with Gary Froude. “Our festival is a chance for visitors to take part in some amazing cultural tourism, to create and to celebrate creators, to share this glorious place with others, and to learn more about it in a fun and exciting way.”

Tickets are available now by donation and can be reserved at www.muskokachautauqua.com.

The 2022 Muskoka Chautauqua Arts & Culture Festival runs August 5 to 14. The festival site and ‘Theatre in the Woods’ is located at 1039 Golf Avenue in the historic village of Windermere.

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2021 Program highlights include:

• A daily morning yoga and meditation series, guided by Annette Newton
• A series of afternoon artist workshops, from plein-air painting and textiles, to mosaics and still life.
• A collection of lectures and literary events, including a discussion of Muskoka in the Roaring Twenties, a book launch of Treasured Islands – an anthology of Muskoka memories, the 2021 Muskoka Authors Panel, a reveal of The Real Mystery of Tom Thomson and a conversation on Building Cultural Communities with the brilliant Zita Cobb from Fogo Island
• Evening musical acts ranging from Jazz to Blues to Folk, and a free concert by the Toronto All-Star Big Band at the Windermere Wharf, complete with boat-in audiences
• A four-film outdoor documentary film series, curated by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, including the captivating Portrayal, the aptly named The Quest for Tonewood, the crypto-mystery Dead Man’s Switch and ending with the Hot Docs 2021 Audience Award-winning Hell or Clean Water
• A historic walking tour around Windermere Village
• A family fun art party featuring arts activities for kids and families

Tickets are now available and can be reserved online at www.muskokachautauqua.com/2021-season/. Tickets will go fast, but there is an online waitlist for those who miss securing tickets and they will be given priority as additional seats become available. Tickets to all events in 2021 are by-donation. Arts organizations like ours depend on the generosity of our patrons. Donations cover the cost of artists and production and makes programming accessible for all. Donations of $25 or more will receive a tax receipt.

This year’s festival will proudly employ over 60 artists, staff and production crew. For many performers, this will be one of their first opportunities in over a year to share their talent with a live audience! They hope you’ll join in — supporting them with your applause and your cheers and, where appropriate, your dollars.

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