Event Details

Saturday, June 18th, 2022
|  12:00pm - 10:00pm

Strawberry Moon Festival

The Strawberry Moon Festival celebrates the indigenous cultures of the Niagara region through storytelling, music, dance, and arts & crafts. Guests will participate in an inclusive and engaging Native American community gathering. They’ll also be entertained by an eclectic lineup of Native artists performing throughout the lower park earlier in the day, and an evening concert in the Artpark Amphitheater featuring Blue Rodeo and Pamyua!

(see full Festival lineup and artist bios below)

“Not just a music festival, Strawberry Moon celebrates the fact the sky does not acknowledge borders, as different cultural factions from Western New York and Canada gathered to honor the beginning of a new season and tip their collective cap to the land that sustains us all.”
The Buffalo News (from review of the 2019 festival)

Saturday, june 18

Artpark's Lower Park - Day portion

Artpark's Amphitheater - Evening concert portion

 

 

 

Presented with support by: 

FESTIVAL LINEUP

This year's Strawberry Moon Festival is divided into two sections. 

12PM-4PM – Indigenous arts and food festival in Artpark’s lower park (South 4th St. entrance) - FREE

6:30PM-10PM - Amphitheater concert featuring Blue Rodeo and Pamyua. Tickets $25 (general admission / carry-in chairs permitted on grass areas)

 

Important traffic notice: Center Street will be closed on June 18th for the Lewiston Garden Festival. To access Artpark's lower (South 4th Street) entrance for our afternoon activities, we suggest accessing South 4th St. either via Cayuga St. or Seneca St. For patrons attending the evening Amphitheater concert only, please use Portage Road to access the upper parking lots.


Listed in order of appearance: 

Artpark’s 3rd annual Strawberry Moon Festival will open the day with the traditional Thanksgiving Address followed by a welcoming Native American Drum Circle at the Peace Garden.

The Indignenous Discovery Zone will host several interactive workshops where visitors can learn more about the beautiful culture, traditions and indigneous way of knowing will be held throughout the day.  

  • Largest Wampum Belt display in USA - Visitors can create a take home 7 bead wampum strand to celebrate the Strawberry 
  • Strawberry wire beading while learning about the importance of the Strawberry to the Native culture 
  • 101 Dewegun - drum sanding workshop with teachings of the drum 

Visitors will also enjoy:

  • Storytelling with Haudenosaunee Master Storyteller Perry Ground
  • The mesmerizing fast paced Smoke Dance competition will expand this year with top WNY youth and adults competing for first place. 
  • Learning about the different styles of Pow Wow and Round Dance styles as well as participating in traditional Haudenosaunee dances.
  • Vendors market filled with incredible and authentic artworks, crafts, traditional foods of WNY Native artisans and cooks.

The Emerald Grove Stage will house several singer songwriters, bands, dance demonstrations and new this year, a youth fashion show.  

The Circle: Native Musician in the Round, an upclose unplugged and intimate concert will kick off the evening portion of SMF by paying tribute to Native American Singer Songwriter, award winning icon, Joanne Shanendoah.  


Smoke Dance Competition
Back by popular demand, the mesmerizing and exciting Smoke Dance Competition.  The Smoke Dance is a rapid quick step dance that is exceedingly fast and difficul, requiring dancers to stop on the very last note. The competition gets larger year with additional talent showing up to compete for first place! 

VIDEO:


 

concerts on the amphitheater stage
GATES: 5PM

Tickets $20 -- click here to purchase

Carry-in chairs and blankets permitted on grass areas

This year's concert will feature a tribute to the most critically acclaimed and honored Native American musician of her generation, Joanne Shenandoah.  Join us after Pamyua's performance as we pay homage and honor her for the legacies she has left and the paths she has opened for the next generation.  Joanne's daughter Leah Shenandoah will be joined by Theresa Bear Fox, Perry Ground, and Tonemah in The Circle: Honoring Icon Joanne Shenandoah! 

 

 

Featuring: 

Blue Rodeo

 

In the 35 years since forming, Blue Rodeo has sold over 4 million albums, received dozens of JUNO Award nominations and wins, played over 2,000 shows, been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, been named to the Order of Canada and have been honored with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. And they’re still as strong as ever with the release of their 16th album, “Many A Mile.”

 

 

 

 

BLUE RODEO VIDEO: 

 

 

 

PAMYUA


Formed in 1995, Pamyua showcases Inuit culture through music and dance performance. Often described as “Inuit Soul Music,” Pamyua has discovered their own genre. They have been acclaimed as one of the 10 greatest Alaska artists of the millennium by Alaska Magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

PAMYUA VIDEO: 

 

Elders Advisory Council

Allan Jamieson, Sr., Cayuga Nation / Neil Patterson Sr., Tuscarora Nation

Produced by Artpark, curated by Artpark Indigenous Producer, Michele-Elise Burnett