It’s a warmup to London’s biggest summer festival. The third annual Sunfest Block Party had more than 500 people dancing and singing at London Brewing Co-op Friday night, and day two is underway with multiple acts on the docket. “It’s kind of like saying to the crowd ‘hey, this is a little taste of summer,’” says Mercedes Caxaj, Sunfest artistic director. “We have great national band and one international band. Just to give you that vibe of it’s not just party music all the time, but it’s very upbeat, no matter where in the world it’s influenced by.” The opening act Saturday afternoon was Ana Lía from Toronto, who originally is from the Dominican Republic. “This is a party,” says Lía. “It’s going to be lots of lively music. I’m going to be bringing a lot of Latin flavour with an infusion of a little bit of Boleros as well. A little bit of Spanish from Spain, a little bit from Dominican where I’m from originally. Ten there’s going to be Cumbia as well, and Arabic music, everything lively and fun”. This week Sunfest announced (Sunfest lineup unveiled – CTVNews) the 46 acts which will perform in Victoria Park from July 3 to July 6. Lía says she is thrilled to be part of the Block Party, and says Sunfest is unlike any other musical event in Canada. “I’m an immigrant, and I’m also a proud Canadian now,” says Lía. “Most of my music is in Spanish, and I find that Canada could still get better with opening up spaces for non-Anglo music. Knowing that such a massive festival and it’s known outside of Canada, makes me super proud that we have it here. That’s why I encourage everyone to listen. You don’t know how much music you’re missing out on just because it’s not in English”. Caxaj agrees that diversity is what makes their festival so successful. “Once you go past that language barrier, it just transcends the music,” says Caxaj. “It connects emotionally to the people, and it doesn’t matter what the language is. We always have people dancing in front of the stage, and usually the kids are the first ones to do that”. This year marks the 31st edition of Sunfest.
