What’s Lugo, you ask?
Here’s a link to a post on the Planet S blog by Craig Silliphant that will fill you in.
I wasn’t able to make it up to Saskatoon on Saturday for the third annual incarnation, but I spoke today with a woman who’s an MFA student at the University of Regina who worked as a volunteer at Lugo and she said it was a smashing success.
It’s hosted by the Mendel Art Gallery, and is timed to coincide with the regular show change that occurs there after the holidays. That means there’s no art on the walls to get all precious about. But there’s plenty of other arts activity that goes on — everything from music and dance to performance and video projections, along with food from local restaurants and a dance party that runs to 1 a.m.
Tickets are $15, and this year Lugo sold out the day before with around 900 people attending. The crowd skews to the 20-35 demographic, my MFA source noted, and it’s viewed by the gallery and the artists who participate as a great way to whet young people’s appetite for the arts.
Lugo’s not on the same scale as Toronto’s Luminato Festival, but it’s got a similar vibe. And it’s an idea that deserves wider exposure (ie. it would be great to have something like this in Regina).