Muskoka Chautauqua ready to once again wow the crowds with week-long festival

It’s been a few years since Muskoka Chautauqua’s festival could welcome a full line-up of artists and the crowds to match.

With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, founders Gary Froude and Gayle Dempsey are very excited for this year’s series of events. It’s the fourth straight year that Windermere will be hosting with the festival taking place between August 4 and August 13.

The first year took place during COVID with no audiences and all the artistic ventures being recorded to share online. The second year in Windermere there were small audiences and in 2022, it was last year almost back to normal, explains Dempsey. In 2023, they’re back in full force and ready to wow the crowds.

“We were already thinking about connecting with nature and doing some outdoors events,” recalls Dempsey about the first year of COVID. “What we ended up with was a little oasis in the woods by Lake Rosseau with a bunch of artists who hadn’t been doing anything for some time grateful to have a little place to work.”

Fast forward a few years and Muskoka Chautauqua will have plenty of artists, authors, musicians and more on tap for the audiences. They also are very keen on keeping the connection to nature alive with the outdoor venue a perfect fit.

“We’re planning on a full out festival but also keeping in the woods, keeping it connected to nature,” she explains. “The more opportunities that we have to connect people with nature, the better shot we have at protecting it.”

Keeping with the theme are events such as the collaborative community conversation about the history and future of Windermere with facilitator Collin Rainey on August 9, and The Threat of Algal Blooms in Muskoka with Research Scientist Norman Yan on August 10.

Morning yoga sessions, a slew of concerts, art classes and exhibitions, walking tours, and much more are in store for those attending this year’s Muskoka Chautauqua festival.

Community and Education

Festivals like Chautauqua can be the starting point for grassroots, organic movements to create a sustainable future, say Froude and Dempsey.

“Chautauqua is about community more than anything else,” explains Froude.

He and Dempsey’s vision to create an arts-based education community is alive and well with many arts-based programming being initiated throughout the region since they reconnected Muskoka with its Chautauqua roots after an 80-year hiatus.

The duo believe that the arts are an integral part of personal, social, and emotional growth and wellbeing. 

“Explore different ways of learning is so critical right now,” says Dempsey. “Does it really have to be an institutional setting? Couldn’t it be painting workshops in the forest?”

Adds Froude: “Couldn’t it be dance and poetry on the shore of a lake?”

It’s also a model of learning that is engaging and enchanting, says Dempsey with a poetic touch.

There is a growing movement among the youth of the world to protect the environment and create a sustainable future. With every conversation and festival that connects kids, art and nature, ideas are born and can lead to real change.

“The kids are concerned about the world and where it’s going,” says Froude. “We need to help facilitate that.”

Volunteer, Sponsor, Donate

Muskoka Chautauqua is a not-for-profit organization which arts and culture in the community and they rely on the efforts of volunteers as well as funding received through sponsors and donors to facility their programming, which includes the summer festival.

Froude and Dempsey explain they are always looking for more helping hands, and sponsorships or donations to keep the programming moving forward and expand their offerings.

This year’s main sponsors include TD Bank, Canadian Heritage, Don and Karen Lang, the Hellyer Foundation and the Jackman Foundation, and Jayne’s Luxury Rentals. For more information, a full list of events, links to buy tickets, to volunteer or provide donations, visit: https://www.muskokachautauqua.com/