For immediate release:
(Ottawa, Tuesday, April 13, 2021)
Gil’s Hootenanny to be Featured on New WPBS Current Affairs Program, “WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories”
Gil’s Hootenanny is proud to announce that it will be a featured story on the new WPBS current affairs program, WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories, on April 27th.
Premiering today at 7:30 pm, this new half hour show in magazine format will showcase stories from the WPBS broadcast region of Northern New York and Eastern Ontario. It will focus on stories related to education, arts and culture, business, tourism, science & technology, and the environment/outdoors.
For the 5-minute segment on Gil’s Hootenanny, Tamara Levine shared the history of the Hootenanny and plans for the 2021 event. She was also interviewed about her father, Gil Levine, the inspiration for this annual May Day sing along. Gil was the founding Director of Research at the Canadian Union of Public Employees, who spent his life working for social justice. A great lover of folk music and supporter of folk musicians, Gil believed in the collective power of song to bring people together to speak up and sing out for change. The WPBS story will include footage from past Hootenannies.
Since the first Gil’s Hootenanny in 2010, this May Day event has featured outstanding Canadian musicians leading sold-out audiences in singing songs of hope and protest which celebrate the stories, struggles and victories of working people. For 2021, Gil’s Hootenanny is releasing a video retrospective of highlights of past Hootenannies along with some exciting new songs. Emphasizing sing-along songs, the video encourages viewers to sing along with the performers, as if they were attending an in-person Hootenanny. “Gil’s Hootenanny 2021: Singing Together Apart” will be released on May 1st at 4pm at https://gilshootenanny.ca/.
WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories can be viewed on Channel 97 on Rogers Cable and Channel 64 with a Rogers Digital Cable Box. If you are watching from outside Ottawa, please consult https://www.wpbstv.org/channel-listing/ for the channel in your area.
Contact:
Kathy Kennedy
kathyltk@gmail.com
613-729-7252 or 613-404-4553 (cell)