HOLD FAST
HOLD FAST respectfully acknowledges that the land we are occupying is the unceded and ancestral homelands of the Beothuk and that Ktaqmkuk, known as the island of Newfoundland, is home to the Mi’kmaq peoples. We would also like to recognize the Inuit of Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut, and the Innu of Nitassinan as the original peoples of Labrador.
We strive to move beyond acknowledgment to active solidarity, by building meaningful relationships in our communities, dismantling structures of white supremacy, and opposing ongoing colonization. We invite our communities to consider their own responsibilities to Indigenous peoples and to the stolen lands where we make our homes.
HOLD FAST Festival is a celebration of contemporary performance, interdisciplinary art, and community engagement in St. John’s, NL.
- Facilitating community engagement and meaningful exchange
- Increasing public arts literacy
- Creating opportunities for artists
- Critiquing and subverting structural oppressions & systems of power, with emphasis on:
- queer, feminist, and anti-racist perspectives
- Newfoundland & Labrador regional identity
- and Indigenous resistance to colonialism
HOLD FAST culminates in a Saturday afternoon Art Crawl, a series of performances, installations, and interactive pop-ups staged outdoors and in non-gallery venues across downtown St. John’s. Past programming has included performances, interactive installations, artist talks, workshops, dance, drag, burlesque, film screenings, and free community events for people of all ages.
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Elijah Martel, HOLD FAST Festival and Communications Coordinator
Elijah Martel is a multidisciplinary artist, zinester, and storyteller. Originally from Seattle, they grew up performing at regional and international storytelling festivals. Their work, informed by by an interest in narrative and Jewish folklore, explores world-building, memory, queerness, and relationships to land through a lens of diaspora and cultural exchange.
Kelly Lewis, HOLD FAST 2024 Festival Assistant
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Mal Parrott, HOLD FAST 2023 Festival Assistant
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Mal Parrott is a performer, artist, choreographer, and arts administrator originally from Conception Bay South, now living in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Since graduating from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2019 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, they seek out any and all ways to bring their administrative skills to arts and performance spaces. They moonlight as a drag performer/host and St. John’s beloved genderbending goblin, Madame Daddy – the resident father figure of the city’s most iconic drag collective, the Phlegm Fatales. They are a big fan of horror movies, cooking, being loudly and unapologetically queer, and the sea.
Contact: eeholdfast@gmail.com
HOLD FAST is funded by Canadian Heritage.