Winnipeg will play hosts to the 2014 Juno Awards, Canada’s premier music celebration. The Juno’s were last in Winnipeg in 2005 where the MTS Centre hosted it for the first time.
The event will be a week long celebration of Canadian music with a lot of your favourite artists in attendance. The Winnipeg Sun compiled a list of things to expect when the Juno’s come to town:
Juno Fest
The Junos are mostly about music, of course. And there will be no shortage of it in the days leading up to Sunday’s gala. On Friday and Saturday night, dozens of bands from around the country and around the corner will take part in the two-night Juno Fest, showcasing their wares in local clubs. A wristband will get you in to all the action.
Juno Cup
Held on Friday evening, the annual hockey game typically pits a team of NHL stars against a crew of musicians, usually captained by Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy. The charity event is less a serious sporting contest and more of a spectacle — think Harlem Globetrotters on skates and you’re more or less in the vicinity. Family fun.
Juno Hoops
The basketball version of the Juno Cup also features a team of pros going up against musicians. If Montreal’s Arcade Fire put out a new album between now and then, you might even get to see frontman Win Butler work his skills on the court.
Fan Fare
On Saturday afternoon, rockers will do it for the kids, staging a massive autograph session and performing for young fans who line up for hours to get up-close and personal with their idols. Typically, this event takes place in a downtown mall, a giant hall — or even out in the street if the weather is nice enough. Cross your fingers on that one.
Songwriters Circle
Staged the afternoon of the big day, this informal, intimate event brings together some of the country’s finest tunesmiths, who sit around, share stories and play some of their hits and highlights, usually on acoustic guitar. The last event took place at the Burton Cummings Theatre; hopefully 18 months is enough time for them to clean up the place again.
The Juno Gala
The main event will take place on Sunday night at MTS Centre, where the cream of Canada’s musical crop will gather to see who takes home the gold — or in this case, the giant hunk of etched glass. Tickets for the event will be available to the public, should you want to rub shoulders with the likes of Chad Kroeger, Avril Lavigne and Michael Buble.
The Afterparties
The celebrating doesn’t end with the show; after the three-hour broadcast ends, expect every single club in the vicinity to host an afterparty — many invitation-only affairs put on by record labels to honour their winners. If you want to get into one of these, you’ll need some connections. So if you know anybody in the biz, now’s the time to start kissing butt.
