MuskokaONline.com News - #GOTLOCAL

From MuskokaUnlimited.com:

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.”

Learn more about this year’s event, including a bit of the who, when and why, at: https://muskokaunlimited.com/2023/08/01/connecting-art-nature/