Hype on King [Archive] - Wonderful Waterloo

UrbanWaterloo

01-02-2010, 11:03 AM

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A Jammin Block Party…
Downtown Kitchener City Hall
(Ontario, Canada)

Live Music
Hot dance crew
Urban art market
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GET downtown. Feel the HYPE[/CENTER]

http://hypeonking.wordpress.com/who/

Schedule of Events
ALL WEEKEND
Reclaimed Craft Market At CITY HALL

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Beads by Shannon - Bird at the Window - Blackjam - Brit Boutique - Cherry Delight - Down2Earth Designs - Elphame Jewels - Its a LuLu - Jan Pinney Arts - Love Poetry Corsets - My Belle Bijoux - Pretty Birds 4 Chicks - Secondlife Designs - She’s Batty - Sweet - Uberboblz - What Sew Ever

Breakin’ battle

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with Neoterik Dance Kru
from Impact Movement Studios
and dj EverBlue

SATURDAY At CITY HALL

11am The Mattlees Band http://hypeonking.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/mattlees1247.jpg?w=272&h=204

12:15pm Chantal Thorn http://a17.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/96/m_a04b8cd5fd03bd54e2a5b0e18f637028.jpg

1:00 Poetikat
Comic and confessional verse from Kat Mortensen

1:30 Scotty James

2:30pm Love, Poetry Corsets Fashion Show http://www.lovepoetrycorsets.com/summit/thumbnail.img?picture.image.url=%2Ffiles%2F2258469 %2Fuploaded%2FIMG_0145dawn.jpg&picture.width.max=178&picture.height.max=356&picture.image.mask.apply=false&pid=1215016141314

3:00pm RedBalloon http://hypeonking.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/dsc_0360.jpg?w=300&h=200

3:45pm The Mattlees Band http://hypeonking.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/mattlees1247.jpg?w=272&h=204

4:15pm Shaun Sutter http://hypeonking.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/shawn-sutter31.jpg?w=285&h=300

5:15pm Kurke White, King Agony, Forefront, Ella + DJ Milo http://hypeonking.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/kurke-ka.jpg?w=221&h=300 http://hypeonking.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/ff-ella.jpg?w=300&h=191 http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v260/184/74/701363760/n701363760_1021325_9659.jpg

6:15pm Kapitol Oner

7pm Rufus - In0v8 - Unstruck w/ Jackson Fisher - Dez-e & Hocus aka The Movie St*rs

SUNDAY At CITY HALL
11am Chantal Thorn
11:45am James Judd
12:15pm RedBalloon
1:30pm Broken Arrow
2:45pm Shaun Sutter

A jammin' block party
Hype on King designed to freshen face of the core and create a 'buzz' for independent business
September 03, 2008
Amy Fuller, RECORD STAFF -KITCHENER
http://news.therecord.com/arts/article/408718

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Carey Friedmann (left) and Megan Goos, in full fashion mode, are organizers of the Hype on King “block party” set for Saturday and Sunday at Civic Square in Kitchener.

This weekend, an event coming to Kitchener city hall could draw big crowds and give downtown businesses a needed boost.

Or, it could turn out to be a lot of hype. Probably both.

Billed as a "jammin' block party," Hype on King will feature live musicians, an art market and breakdancing.

The organizers -- there are only two -- have spent four months putting together Hype on King. Carey Friedmann and Megan Goos say they've made a personal commitment to reviving Kitchener's downtown.

"People are fearful of the downtown and they think it's scummy," Friedmann says. "It's actually not."

That's why they wish more people would support the event they've designed to create a buzz -- and maybe a buck -- for independent artisans, musicians and merchants in Kitchener.

Both women carry notebooks full of tidy to-do lists and sticky notes. Friedmann flips hers open and reads their carefully crafted statement of purpose:

"The purpose is to give independent, creative people the opportunity to express themselves through their media, be it art, music or dance."

Hype on King coincides with the last Saturday of frosh week, and university students can take the bus downtown.

"We want to show new students that Kitchener is also part of their home," Friedmann says.

They want to bring people of all ages downtown to create some energy and see whether it might be viable for them to open an art store in the area.

Goos recently had to close her first, short-lived attempt at an art store (the imadeit shop on King Street) and she wants to try again. For now, both women sell their handcrafted wares at RareFunk, a colourful Duke Street shop chock-full of the work of talented Canadian artists.

Goos sews her SWEET line of clothing and whimsical stuffed creatures from thrifted or donated fabric. Friedmann makes custom handpainted glassware (SinfulBeauty.ca).

Seventeen vendors, including other RareFunk artists, will display their work at the Hype on King art market.

Meanwhile, a crew of breakdancers from Impact Movement Studios on King Street West will stir up a one-on-one breakdance battle. Other breakdancers are welcome to come and participate, too.

The lineup of musicians includes the Matt Lees Band, Heavenscent, RedBalloon, Kapital Oner and James Judd.

Singer-songwriter Chantal Thorn, who performed at the Uptown Country festival in June, will appear just after noon on Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. "The music will give people a reason to stay and shop," Friedmann says.

Waterloo's Shaun Sutter, an acoustic guitarist and singer, will also perform with his band. He'll play both days, including at the closing act on Sunday afternoon.

Sutter stumbled upon his musical ability after buying a guitar on impulse.

"It just sat in my house for months," he says. "I picked it up, I put it back down, I picked it up, I put it back down."

Eventually, he learned a few chords from Internet tutorials, enough to learn three songs and play at the open mike in a bar. He hasn't put it down since.

Sutter frequents venues like the St. Louis Bar and Grill in Waterloo and the Boar's Head Pub in Stratford.

At Hype on King, he'll play original numbers, plus covers the audience can sing along with.

A half-hour fashion show on the side stage Saturday afternoon will feature corset designs by London designer Dawn Rawson of Love, Poetry Corsets.

The Friedmann-Goos duo hope to have local threads on display all weekend, but say some shop owners have been reluctant to get involved.

The call for fall clothing collections remains open, though.

Stage time comes at a cost of $100 (or best offer), and includes two days of ad space on the main stage and opportunity to set up signage, distribute promotional material or display a rack of clothes.

"C'mon, get your fashions down here," Friedmann says.

Merchants look for events that boast corporate sponsorships, but Hype on King is by and for independent businesses, she says: "Corporate sponsors want big acts, like Beat Rocks the Block. This is an anti-corporate event. We want independent businesses."

For now, they have sponsorship from Echo Weekly, the Kitchener Downtown Business Association and the City of Kitchener -- nowhere near the original goal of 25 sponsors.

Despite their struggle to organize the indie shindig, both intend to make Hype on King an annual event. "We have no salary, but we enjoy it and it's needed," Goos says.

"We want the downtown to thrive."

HYPE ON KING
A block party on King Street Dates: Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Contact: 519-572-8959.
See also website: hypeonking.wordpress.com