Shortlist

The Shortlist: Top 5 Things To Do In Canada This September

The Manifesto hip-hop cultural showcase and panels return live and online; Calgary and Toronto host major film festivals and stream concerts at Y440 Sessions.

By: NEXT Magazine

Notifi

NO. 1

Hip Hop Fest, Summit Mark Manifesto Return

Manifesto
Thurs., Sept. 9 – Sat., Sept. 11
In-person and virtual festival
Free – $15 CityView
Drive-In, 20 Polson St. Toronto
mnfsto.com

Manifesto, one of the country’s biggest celebrations of hip hop, community and culture, is back for a 15th year with a two-day summit and a full day of live music. The summit is free to access online and will cover important artist development topics like personal financing and marketing music. Not to be missed is the panel Stolen Canada (Thurs., Sept. 9, 4 pm ET), discussing hip hop’s role in raising consciousness and featuring 2oolman of The Halluci Nation and Bob Marley’s granddaughter, Donisha Prendergast.

Saturday is all about live performances from Notifi, Savannah Ré, Raz Fresco and many others. You can catch the action in person at CityView Drive-In (no car required!) or watch live online.

Photo of Skye Wallace by Sebastian-Buzzalino.

NO. 2

Yamaha Y440 SESSIONS

Mon., Sept. 20 – Sat., Sept. 25, 7 pm ET
YouTube livestream
Free
ca.yamaha.com

Celebrate the return to “live” for an entire week with Y440 as six artists livestream from the Yamaha YouTube channel, including Vancouver singer-songwriter Jon Bryant (Tues., Sept. 21) and Toronto-based fave Skye Wallace (Fri., Sept. 24). These sessions take a deep dive into the artists’ creative processes; past sessions, all available online, include an in-depth interview with Sam Roberts Band drummer Josh Trager.

BDSM

NO. 3

Music on Screen

A Song Called Hate at Calgary International Film Festival
Sun., Sept. 26, 9 pm MT
Tickets $13.50 per film, bundle options available
Cineplex Eau Claire, 200 Barclay Parade SW
Calgary
ciffcalgary.ca

In addition to a broad slate of programming, Calgary International Film Festival’s Music On Screen series features music-related narratives and docs, including A Song Called Hate, which chronicles the headline-making Icelandic BDSM techno duo Hatari who, at the 2019 Eurovision Contest in Tel-Aviv, defied the apolitical rules of the competition to speak up about Palestine. Other promising features include I’m Wanita, the tale of a troubled Honky Tonk queen, and Sisters With Transistors, the untold story of the female pioneers of electronic music.

NO. 4

Go West For Music Fest

Westward Music Festival
Sept. 8 – 13, various times
Music Festival
Ticket prices vary; packages available
Vancouver, various locations
westwardfest.com/tickets-schedule

Vancouver gets a blast of music festival frenzy as Westward returns in clubs across the city. Catch acts like spitfire rapper Haviah Mighty (Sept. 12, Imperial), quirky indie-folkster Chad VanGaalen (Sept. 11, Rickshaw), genre-bending duo MONEYPHONE (Sept. 10, Imperial), iconic comic rapper BBNO$ (Sept. 11, Vogue) and many more.

A young Alanis Morissette.

NO. 5

Music in the Spotlight at TIFF Film Fest

Toronto International Film Festival
Thurs., Sept. 9 – Sat., Sept. 18
In-person and virtual screenings
$19 – $69
Toronto, Various theatres and online
tiff.net

One of the world’s biggest film festivals returns to Toronto with over 150 films across a hybrid of theatre, drive-in and virtual screenings. Highlights include several great music documentaries, including Alanis Morissette’s Jagged and Toronto rock legends, Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine and Oscar Peterson: Black + White.