How Flash Festival Will Spotlight Downtown Moncton
MONCTON – When Lisa Griffin returned to Moncton after living abroad, she wanted to make sure the city is interesting enough to live in. So, she and her team at Art for Art’s Sake painted Greater Moncton with murals through Festival Inspire. Now they’ll shower light on to the city with Flash Moncton February 2 & 3.
“It’s kind of an injection of positivity in the town. I want to live here, but it can’t be boring,” she said. “[Flash] brings cool factor to the city, it gives Millennials something to talk about when they’re bragging about their town. And the lighting thing is really important, it makes [the city] safer, more walkable and bikeable.”
“This kind of festival helps us build our personality, it helps build a perception of who Moncton is as a player in the Atlantic Canadian cityscape,” she added.
Griffin is the co-founder and executive director of Art for Art’s Sake. She says the light and tech-based festival showcases media arts from around Atlantic Canada, mainly from Halifax and Moncton. It will also have events related to food and a “Fire and Ice Party” for the public to enjoy.
The festival will have musical acts like Ben Kaplan, Gordon Gets Lost and Scientists of Sound. Halifax-based artist Nick Iwaskow will perform one of the key light shows.
Also known as Wasko AV, the artist will make Assumption Place’s facade seem like it’s “billowing, breathing and kind of deconstructing itself.” He said events like Flash are important not only to artists but also the community.
“I think it really brings a city together. It’s really kind of a congregation of different people from different backgrounds to appreciate art. That gives it a lot of value in the sense that it brings people together and kind of breathes life into a city as well,” he said. “Day to day can seem mundane, especially in the winter, so this is really gonna get people out and moving in the city.”
Griffin, who also sits on the board of the city’s Downtown Revitalization Committee, says the festival aims to show parts of the area that don’t usually cross people’s minds. She also hopes Flash will result in permanent lighting changes for one building per year.
“When we think about downtown, we think of Main Street. But that’s not the only street. There’s a whole bunch of stuff happening if we just light it up a little bit better. So it’s sort of about building permanent lighting as well and opening up people’s eyes to how lighting changes the city, and taking a couple of unassuming venues and using them for shows and transforming them into different spaces,” she said.
Luc Doucet, the owner of creative catering company Barolo & Co., is working with Griffin and her team to host the Flash Feast at the Masonic Temple. He said events like Flash help showcase the city’s culinary talent and boost downtown businesses.
“Of course that brings people to the downtown core and to the city. This promotes other businesses as well. So, people going to Flash Feast for instance, they’ll be drinking before or after, and of course participating in our event and other events that are happening as well,” he said.
Griffin said food is becoming a key addition to the events she and her team are planning, in line with Tourism New Brunswick’s strategy to boost local food and beverages.
“The second tier of the Flash Feast is we want people to go downtown and eat at restaurants there,” she said.
Griffin sees a momentum driving the growth of arts and culture in Moncton and says it should continue.
“Because the rest of the world is taking economic development departments of their city and putting money into arts and culture, so why should we be any different?”