Past Festivals
ACCESSFest 2023
Art Show and Opening
Art Show: May 17-June 11, 2023
Location: The Gathering Place Community Centre (609 Helmcken St, Vancouver, BC)
Gallery Hours: *coming soon*
FREE – No Registration Required
Presented in partnership with the Gathering Place, Kickstart is proud to present this collaborative collection by incredible artists An Dong, Victoria Marie, and Will Dewgrave.
The exhibit runs May 17th to June 3rd in celebration of BC Access Awareness. You’re welcome to visit anytime during The Gathering Place’s operating hours, 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM, 7 days a week in Vancouver’s Downtown South neighbourhood.
Art Show Access Information:
- Masks required
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
Art Show Opening: May 27th, 2023 – 12:00pm-3:00pm
Location: The Gathering Place Community Centre (609 Helmcken St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – No Registration Required
Come and celebrate the opening of Access Fest 2023 with an opening event for the Community Art Show. At the opening we will serve light refreshments, celebrate the legacy of Access Fest, and have an artist talk featuring guest curator Yuri Arajs, Kickstart’s Artistic Director Jenna Reid, and one of the artists from the exhibition. Yuri Arajs, our curator, will be giving a guided tour and talk on the exhibit May 27th starting at 12:00 PM.
Art Show Opening Access Information
- Masks required
- Food provided
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
Access is a Radical Practice: Banner Making Workshop
Date: May 28, 2023 – 12PM – 3PM
Location: The Gathering Place Community Centre (609 Helmcken St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – No Registration Required
Artists have always been at the forefront of social movement organizing and community celebrations. Access is both a radical practice and is cultivated through communal creativity. Come and join Jenna Reid, artistic director of Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture at the Gathering Place to make your own banners in preparation for the Access Fest Parade! Participants will be provided with all of the materials needed in order to make their own individual pennant.
Access Information
- Masks required
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
About the Facilitator
Jenna Reid (she/her) is a fibre artist who works primarily with the practices of quilting and natural dyes as a way to engage with activist based aesthetics. Jenna has worked alongside prominent social movements in Toronto and across Turtle Island creating large scale banners and pennants to creatively activate messages for racial justice and radical change. Recently, two of Jenna’s 50 feet long banners were hung in a group exhibition at the Art Gallery of Guelph. Jenna has completed artist residencies on Toronto Island with the Feminist Art Conference, at Banff for her studio and curatorial work, at McMaster University in the School of the Arts and has exhibited her work and presented on panels in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia. Jenna’s studio work explores inter-institutional violence informed by the histories of queer, feminist, Deaf, disability, and mad movement organizing. With a studio based PhD in Critical Disability Studies at York University, Jenna’s teaching and research specializes in the emergent field of Mad Studies. Jenna uses art in classroom and community spaces to create ruptures, open up new lines of inquiry, encouraging people to turn away from the need to resolve and instead open up the transformative possibilities that happen when we render things problematic. Jenna has published in The Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, Canadian Art, Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Policy, and Practice, Journal of Progressive Human Services, and Studies in Social Justice
Accessible Tour at the Vancouver Art Gallery
Date: May 30, 2023 – 3PM
Location: Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – Registration Required. Limited Spots
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
In partnership with Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture, Access Fest, and the Vancouver Art Gallery, we are delighted to offer one accessible tour designed to welcome the disabled community during Access Awareness Week. The access tour will provide an opportunity to explore works featured in the exhibitions Shary Boyle: Outside of the Palace of Me and Hard Edge
Access Information
- Masks required
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
Old Growth 25 Years of Disability Arts: Community Film Screening
Date: May 31, 2023 – 730PM – 930PM
Location: VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – Registration Required
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Join Kickstart and Open Access Foundation for Arts and Culture (OAFAC) for a community dialogue night with a film screening of Shameless, the iconic documentary by Bonnie Sherr Klein (one of Kickstart’s founding members!). After the film, a panel of disabled Vancouver cultural workers and activists will discuss the future of disability arts and politics here in so-called Vancouver. Panelists will include Raven John, Jane Shi and Carmen Papalia from OAFAC and Jenna Reid from Kickstart.
Access Information
- Masks required
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
Film Content Warning:
- Graphic descriptions of self-harm
- Injury (fall)
- Filicide (Tracy Latimer)
- Abuse
- Suicide
About OAFAC
Open Access Foundation for Arts and Culture (OAFAC) is a pandemic-era cultural organization led by a passionate group of Disabled, Sick, Mad, Fat, Hard of Hearing, Neurodivergent, Blind, Low Vision, and Nonvisual artists and cultural workers. Our activities advance representation of disability culture and artistry through trainings, curation, public engagements, supporting artistic development, exhibitions, performances, educational campaigns, site-specific project development, and cultural competency consultation. By providing educational, training, and mentorship opportunities, OAFAC builds capacity for those in the broader Disability Arts movement to participate in the field on their terms and gain influence within a wider cultural context.
OAFAC takes the position that the conditions of anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, racism, classism, sexism, anti- fatness, and discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, are intertwined with and reinforced by ableism, with colonialism at the root.
We take the position that these conditions shape the current local and national arts ecologies. We resist these conditions. We assert disability-informed practices of creation, collaboration, presentation, and advocacy. We centre agency, self-determination, and disability-informed futures.
About The Panelists
DISRuptive Poetry Workshop with Rabbit Richards
Date: June 1, 2023 – 2PM – 4PM
Location: The Gathering Place Community Centre (609 Helmcken St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – Registration Required (Limited Spots)
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Soft Truth: Working Safely with Trauma in Writing and Performance
This workshop is for all skill levels.
Participants may wish to bring a piece of started work, or may choose to write one here. Many people find that some sort of writing practice helps them to deal with traumatic events. How can we do this without hurting ourselves more? And if we write to perform, how can we also take good care of our audience? Thoughtful questions and discussion with time for participants to consider their own work.
Access Information
- Masks required
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
About the Facilitator
Rabbit Richards was born on occupied Lenni Lenape territory in Brooklyn NY. Their people have never rooted for more than one generation anywhere for as long as their history can trace. Their father’s family claims Kyiv and Minsk; their mother’s family remembers St Thomas and St Croix, islands of the Carib, Arawak and Ciboney. Rabbit is learning how to exist on stolen land in a marginalized body. Relentlessly compassionate with fierce integrity. Rabbit is passionate about anti-oppression and accessibility work and is deeply invested in the conversations that are provoked by their art. Currently they serve as Systems Change Coordinator at PACE Society on k’emk’emeláy, commonly known as the downtown eastside of Vancouver BC, where they focus on harm reduction within community care.
DISRupt the Slam Poetry Night
Date: June 2, 2023 – 6PM – 830PM
Location: The Gathering Place Community Centre (609 Helmcken St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – Registration Required (Limited Space)
To Register: https://AccessFestPoetryNight.eventbrite.ca/
Co-presented by Under The Table Poetry, this poetry open mic night will DISRupt you in all of the most exciting ways inviting you into the queered and cripped world of poetry nights run by and for our communities. With host mitcholos and feature poet Rabbit Richards, be prepared to witness some world changing magic on stage. Sign up for the open mic and remember to bring a physical or electronic copy of your poem to provide to the ASL interpreters.
Access Information
- Masks required
- Food provided
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
About the Hosts
Rabbit Richards was born on occupied Lenni Lenape territory in Brooklyn NY. Their people have never rooted for more than one generation anywhere for as long as their history can trace. Their father’s family claims Kyiv and Minsk; their mother’s family remembers St Thomas and St Croix, islands of the Carib, Arawak and Ciboney. Rabbit is learning how to exist on stolen land in a marginalized body. Relentlessly compassionate with fierce integrity. Rabbit is passionate about anti-oppression and accessibility work and is deeply invested in the conversations that are provoked by their art. Currently they serve as Systems Change Coordinator at PACE Society on k’emk’emeláy, commonly known as the downtown eastside of Vancouver BC, where they focus on harm reduction within community care.
łapḥsp̓at̓unakʔi łim̓aqsti aka mitcholos (they/ them/ theirs) is a alienative queer and disabled poet. in 2017 they completed the spoken word program at banff centre for arts and creativity. in the same year was featured as a ‘rising voice’ poet of honor at the canadian festival of spoken word. at cfsw 2018, mitcholos made it onto the vanslam team alongside other competing poets: kay kassirer, rabbit richards, and jaye simpson; and coached by the poet yes. they entered the national poetry slam competition, making it past prelims to be finalists, ultimately placing third in the country. mitcholos is a born indian (under the indian act of canada) and is a foster care child of non-native familys. mitcholos is also alienative: indigenous but still displaced to where they are not native. uninvited, they work in solidarity with indigenous peoples: the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, the sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ. mitcholos acknowledges where they live as unceded territorys, that since time immemorial and forever more this is the lands and cultural centres of three distinct peoples. mitcholos is yuułuʔiłʔatḥ, and a member of the maa-nulth treaty of 2011, and is always and forever nuučaan̓uł
Access Fest Parade
Date: June 3, 2023
Lunch Served: 12PM
Parade Starts: 2PM
Location: Emery Barnes Park (1170 Richards St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – No Registration required
Come and join us for the culminating celebration of BC Access Awareness Week! We’ll begin in Emery Barnes Park to open up our celebrations of the day together in community. Lunch will be provided on site! From the park, prepare yourselves for the life altering performance by artist Carmen Papalia, where we will parade together from Emery Barnes Park guided on a Walking Tour!
The parade will end at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square [Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza]
Access Information
- Masks required
- Food provided
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
Site Access Information
- Wheelchair Access
- According to parks website, park is wheelchair accessible.
- There are some narrow pathways, steps down without railings or barriers, and water features that may leave walking surfaces slick.
- Access from Richards & Seymour Sts primarily involves steps/traversing grass; Davie St is level access; wheelchair access from Seymour in NW corner and Richards NE corner of park.
- Parking Nearby
- Metered street parking
- Easy Park lot 18 near TGP
- 1221 Homer St Precise Park lot
- Some small surface lots near TGP
- Transit Nearby
- Yaletown-Roundhouse Canada Line 0.3 km walk [5 min by nondisabled]
ACCESSFest Parade: Main Stage
Date: June 3, 2023 – 3PM – 5PM
Location: šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square [formally known as Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza]
(750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC)
FREE – No Registration required
As the parade brings us right into the šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square, join us at the main stage for performances that will rock your crip world! Opening acts Tawahum Bige, Angelic Goldsky, and KeAloha will bring to the stage a combination of musical brilliance and poetic wonder. Headlining act Glow Motive will close out our week long celebrations. This powerhouse duo with a vivid sparkle that disability communities have to offer to this world.
Access Information
- Masks required
- Wheelchair accessible
- ASL interpretation provided
Site Access Information
- Physical Access
- Plaza is almost entirely flat with only barriers being curbs. There are curb cuts at the corners (Hornby & W Georgia and Granville & W Georgia) as well as cuts at the south end where the plaza abuts the gallery
- Stone/brick pavers may be loose/uneven causing trip hazards or pain for those pushing mobility aids
- Parking Nearby
- ParkLink Parking 639 Hornby
- 763 Hornby Garage
- Lot 9 – Pacific Centre
- Impark Lot 295 at 666 Burrard (entrance on Hornby)
- Transit Nearby
- 004; 007; 010; 014; 016; 050; 240; 241; 246; 247; 250; 253; 254; 257; CL; N22; N24 one block east [Vancouver City Centre Bus Exchange]
- Vancouver City Centre Canada Line one block/270 m east [4 min by nondisabled]
- 004; 007; 010; 014; 016; 050; N10; N17; N9 adjacent [Southbound Howe St @ W Georgia St]
About the Artists
Glow Motive is so-called Vancouver’s favourite new brown queer pop duo, born via email collaboration during the early pandemic. Having now played many of the city’s best-loved queer events, they are ready to give their audience some tunes to play on repeat! Glow Motive is a collaboration between prolific poet/songwriter/musician/loop pedalist Anjalica Solomon and seasoned musician/producer Oceaan Pendharkar. Following the isolation of the early pandemic, after collaborating via email, they felt so aligned that they decided to create Glow Motive. Creating together has made them grow not only as artists, but has also deepened the relationships they have with their brown, queer, gender non-conforming communities. They want other people like them to have the opportunity to see themselves and their experiences in art. Glow Motive’s heart-warming pop sound is characterized by their luscious vocal layers and emotive lyrics. In their live show, their infectious melodies are known to bring together a diverse crowd and make everyone feel their feelings.
KeAloha is a mixed-Indigenous musician and artist based in so-called “Vancouver, BC”. Her music carries essences of Alternative RnB, Latin-fusion, and Dream Pop mixed with sounds inspired by her Hawaiian and Lheidli T’enneh Indigeneity. KeAloha weaves soundscapes of Indigi-Pop wonder, fluidly owning the stage as a vocalist, drummer, and dancer. Her second single – “Mama’s Hands”, an ode to her matriarchal lineage, was nominated to CBC Searchlight Top 100 in 2021. Her third single – “Mahina”, reached the top 10 of the Indigenous Music Countdown (IMC). KeAloha’s debut Album is rooting to bloom in 2023. Raised alongside her two older siblings by their single Mom, she knows the magic of making somethings-from-nothings. KeAloha’s heart’s foundation lies in uplifting marginalized communities in solidarity.
Angelicunt [they/t/he/m] is a loud clown mouth spoken word poet who encodes their work with magical potential– summoning all cryptic queers, witches, switches, and trancestors with rhythm, repetition and unwounding. A mix of play, gay and music, Angelicunt seeks to shadow work, transmute, and expel through poetry and performance. Except some jubilance, distress, and a whole lot of rebecoming. Some of Angelicunt’s performance highlights include: opening act for Shane Koyzcan at the Vogue Theatre with their trio Tiny Tricycle Poets, performing in the 2SLGBTQ+ Word Poetry Slam Championship showcase in Brussels and featuring in the Lila Queer Arts Festival in Switzerland.
Tawahum Bige is a Łutselkʼe Dene, Plains Cree spoken word poet and hip-hop artist from unceded Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh Territory (CKA Vancouver). Their Two Spirit, Nonbinary Scorpio-moon’s intensity promises to speak their truth to you, to self and to power. Their single, Connect2Spirit, charted #1 on Indigenous Music Countdown in June 2022. Having opened for Kimmortal and Vivek Shraya, Tawahum’s also performed for Talking Stick Festival, Verses Festival and more for several years. Find them online @Tawahum on streaming platforms, Instagram, Twitter and more. Check out his debut hip-hop album, Bottled Lightning, everywhere now!
2023 ACCESS Fest is made possible
by support from and collaboration with:
- The Gathering Place Community Centre / Downtown South Community Association
- Under The Table Poetry Collective
- SPARC BC
- The City of Vancouver
- With Funding From: Province of British Columbia and Canada Council for the Arts
Click on the page numbers below to learn about past Access Festivals!
