The guys behind the “We Live Up Here” project — Andrew Knapp and Christian Pelletier — have been nothing if not busy over the last couple of years.
In 2012, they published their first coffee table book featuring Sudburians' photos of the city, following that up with a second volume in 2014.
In celebration, they held a giant combination book launch and cultural event at The Grand in early December.
Knapp and Pelletier are also known for the murals they've put up around the city and for the cute oh-so-Sudbury buttons with sayings such as “Wolf on a Wire” and “I love the smell of sulphur in the morning.”
They could be forgiven if they wanted to put their feet up for a spell and rest on their laurels.
But during the book launch, Knapp and Pelletier announced they're in the process of organizing a new summer festival.
Up Fest, set to take place Aug. 5-15, will be a cultural extravaganza something similar to Toronto's “Nuit Blanche.”
Sudbury's version is also inspired by the guys' visit to Rouyn-Noranda's Festival De Musique Émergente, which transforms the small city's downtown into “this incredible playground,” Knapp said.
“It's a town of 40,000 people, and they have this incredible event that embraces their downtown core and their cultural scene,” Pelletier adds.
“We're a town three times the size and we've got nothing like this. It kind of tickled us and made us go 'Well there's no excuses. We know all the people. Let's just make it happen now.'”
Up Fest is set to begin Aug. 5, with the arrival of muralists from all over Ontario. They'll create upwards of a dozen new murals around Sudbury's downtown core.
The crux of the festival takes place in the downtown Aug. 13-15, with an emerging music and public art festival that's topped off by an overnight art installation crawl.
Although Up Fest is still in its early stages, Knapp and Pelletier already have a lot of ideas, including projections on downtown buildings.
They also have plans to lay down sod on Durham Street — yes, you read that correctly — and to paint a mural on a cement truck.
“On the 16th, when Sudbury is hung over because of us, you still have these beautiful murals left,” Pelletier said. “You've got these beautiful pieces that are going to be there for 20, 30, 50, 100 years.”
The idea is to involve the city's arts organizations and Sudburians in general to make Up Fest their project, he said.
“The idea isn't for us to come in and say 'Hey Sudbury, here's a new festival,'” Pelletier said. “The idea is for Sudbury to go 'Hey, this is our new festival,' and getting everyone involved.”
To learn more about the festival, visit vimeo.com/weliveuphere, and watch the Up Fest video.