Connecting artists, students, and community during the annual OCFF conference

Art Beat is an opportunity for performers who are registered delegates at the annual OCFF conference to ‘give back’ to the host community by offering one-hour performances in local schools, seniors' residences and long term health-care facilities. The sessions are intimate, acoustic performances. This program is a voluntary service and no fee is charged to any of the schools or organizations that are chosen to host a concert.

Folk music is ultimately about expression, reflection, creativity and community, and what better way to embrace the roots of folk music during the OCFF conference than to share an hour of  time with students and local residents who might not otherwise have had an opportunity to hear, learn, discover, and connect with our community?

Students, teachers, administrators, health care workers, and musicians alike have been delighted with the programs offered during conferences in Sudbury, Guelph, Kingston, London and Ottawa. One high school student's parting comment at the end of a performance was, "That was the best history class I've ever had," while a teacher at another school said: "You don't understand, we have no music program, and that was the first time some of those kids have seen a guitar or heard a song sung in this building."

The primary focus of the program is to offer performances which are enjoyable and engage the audience in a live, acoustic music experience. Some Art Beat performances feature content ranging from the art of songwriting to ethnic folk dancing; from traditional story telling to guitar techniques. The common connection is folk music in its many forms.