Gil’s Hootenanny, Ottawa’s annual community singalong, celebrates songs of hope and protest with exuberant audience participation. While the word “hootenanny” may not be in everyone’s lexicon, Gil’s Hootenanny is hell-bent on reviving this form of entertainment for folks of all ages.
Gil’s Hootenanny traces its roots back to folk legends Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie who popularized hootenannies in the 1950s-1960s as informal folk music gatherings with the audience singing along. In the 2024 movie “A Complete Unknown”, there is at least one scene with Pete Seeger leading folks in a hootenanny. Joan Baez famously noted that “A hootenanny is to folk singing what a jam session is to jazz”.
Gil’s Hootenanny brings people together around May Day to share the stories, struggles and victories of working people and the peace, environmental and women’s movements. First presented in 2010, Gil’s Hootenanny has seen increasingly larger audiences singing together and experiencing the power of song to change the world. As Pete Seeger once said, “A good song reminds us what we’re fighting for”.
Singing together can go a long way towards buildingcommunity and strengthening social bonds. It also supports our physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
Headlining this 16th annual Gil’s Hootenanny is singer-songwriter, activist and song interpreter extraordinaire Rebecca Campbell. Rebecca is a magical performer who creates music that is “emotionally rooted”, “honest” and “interactive”. She finds “solace and energy in activism” and she works to lay bare “the inequities and injustices of the world we live in”. Gil’s Hootenanny is delighted to welcome Rebecca back to Ottawa to bring the audience together to sing together to “speak truth to power”.
Gil’s Hootenanny will take place at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 30, at 30 Cleary Avenue, the campus of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa. The venue is accessible, has ample parking and is serviced by OC Transpo.
Tickets for Gil’s Hootenanny will be $20 (plus fees). Kids are welcome to attend free of charge.
Stay tuned for further information.