The Festival of Words’ monthly open mic night is continuing into the new decade, featuring an appearance by Saskatchewan-based rapper as the headliner for the night.
The Performers Café for this month will once again take place at Mitsu Sweet Cafe, on Jan. 30, with the mic open to the public beginning at 7 p.m.
Most nights, the open mic plays witness to all kinds of writers, musicians, poets, magicians, and occasionally even comedians. The event is meant to be a safe, welcoming space for artists to share their work, build experience performing for an audience, and even network with each other.
Following the open mic portion of the evening will be a performance from rapper Big Mo, a Regina artist who advocates for sobriety after his own journey through recovery.
“We’re excited to bring in a hip-hop artist because it’s a really interesting chance for us to bring new genres to our open mic,” said Amanda Farnel, operations coordinator at the Festival of Words.
The headliners at the monthly nights are artists chosen for their work, said Farnel. A selection committee takes a look at each artist’s work, especially if they’ve taken part in the open mic before, and selects a monthly headliner who they feel deserve a little extra spotlight.
The Performers Café takes place on the last Thursday of each month and welcomes all artists in the community to join the evening — and it could be helpful to come a bit early to get a seat.
“We have a really loyal crowd, and it’s usually a packed house every night,” said Farnel. “We usually have about 50 people show up, and 12 performers.”
The Performers Café will continue on Feb. 27 with poet Imogen Rennie as a headliner.
