North by Northeast
From Free net encyclopedia
North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual 3-day live music festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario held the second weekend each June.
NXNE 2006 will run June 8, 9, 10.
It began in 1996 and was patterned on the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Each year, three-dozen music venues host hundreds of bands from Canada, the US and all over the world. Each music venue hosts five bands a night (9PM onward), and the majority of the venues are grouped along downtown Toronto's Queen St. West, College St. West, and the Bloor St. Annex.
The music conference portion of NXNE runs for two of the three days. NXNE delegates and bands playing the festival are able to participate in panel discussions, songwriter round tables, keynotes, demo listening & peer critiquing, legal clinics and mentor sessions. The conference attempts to foster a professional environment where musicians, artists, and music industry reps can network and share ideas within their field.
A film festival was added in 2001 to run concurrently with the weekend music festival and industry conference, in conjunction with the NFB. Films are primarily music related documentaries and videos.
North By North East is a volunteer driven music festival. The dedication and enthusiasm of NXNE volunteers once even caught the eye of Andrew Loog Oldham (the 2002 keynote speaker), who once remarked that NXNE volunteers reminded him of why he originally entered into the music business.
In 2004, NXNE celebrated its 10th anniversary.
NOW Magazine is a major sponsor, and its owners hold an ownership interest in the festival.