The Free Music Festivals

All summer long, Londoners flock to free festivals and music events.

"All of a sudden you have to pay for your music," says Richard Young, publisher of The Beat -- Arts in London magazine. "People say, 'Why should I pay for something I got for free all summer?'"

"The festivals are hard to criticize, but they are a double-edged sword. After everyone has gone to free festivals, they think all music should be free."

His comments come just as Home County Folk Festival, set to start this Friday, announces it is rebranding itself in an effort to shed the free label. Instead, Home County hopes to convince spectators to buy a support sticker for a $5 donation.

Home County could use the money, but there's a subtext to the request as well, says Home County artistic director Catherine McInnes.

The spectators who came in droves for the free festival music largely stayed away from the ticket events "The after-hours shows were not sustainable. We decided to pull everything back to the park this year."

That identity seems fractured, separated into institutional islands that don't connect well with each other or the public. Without a unified vision of what London is, the city is having difficulty selling itself to the rest of the world.

"People have a limited amount of money they can put towards art. If you see somebody big at the JLC, that would be the budget for the month."

But live music and art exhibits and poetry slams and the rest of what London has to offer can make city life more enjoyable, less stressful, she says.

Many people assume there's not much going on in London, because Toronto to the east and Detroit to the west draw so much attention to their arts scenes, he notes.

If you want art in London, you have to visit the core. But many people don't like to visit the core, believing it's dangerous or gritty or simply too difficult to navigate, Young adds.

"Educating Londoners -- especially those who live in the suburbs and don't venture into the core where most of the arts venues are located -- about London's arts scene is an issue that we at The Beat grapple with every day," he says.

"I certainly see a ton of young people on the streets and in cafes these days. I think there is a young generation starting to embrace what London has to offer. People are embracing the whole notion of shopping and buying local. The fact you (The Free Press) are raising this subject makes people think about the value of the arts."

McInnes also sees the move by Fanshawe College to build a campus for its theatre studies downtown as a key to getting more people in the core to experience the arts, and solidifying an already healthy arts district.

"That is a huge step in the right direction. There is such a vibrant arts scene in London. It is right here in front of everyone's faces."