On April 23 MayWorks 2008 began with the public launch of its calendar of events. The media event was hosted by the Park Theatre which will be the location of three MayWorks activities this year.

The kick off to MayWorks featured Aidi Sara Kreindler describing some the highlights of the Festival and performing a song from her May 23 event Song, Satire and Solidarity. She was followed by Nathan Rogers who will headline a MayWorks concert on May 25 at the West End Cultural Centre.

Special thanks to Danny Schur who assisted in organizing and presenting the event.

April 27 is the first event of this year’s calendar and it will feature a spoken word event with artists from Edmonton, Toronto and Winnipeg. It is a joint project of the MayWorks Festivals in the three cities and is made possible by funding from the Canada Council. It features some of the best young poets from these cities who will be doing work commissioned especially for the show. Here in Winnipeg we are pleased to announce that the University of Winnipeg Students Association and CKUW are also sponsoring the event.

As a pre-MayWorks event on April 4th and 5th the Almanac Festival was held at the West End Cultural Centre. It featured Tom Paxton, Lindsay Jane, Nancy White, Joe Jencks (with Helena Nash). The two nights were a unique opportunity to hear music from across two generations of performers/activists. The Almanac Festival was made possible by a grant from the Winnipeg Arts Council and was sponsored by CUPE - Manitoba.

MayWorks 2007 is dedicated to the memory of Rick McNair. Rick was known for his many accomplishments in the world of theatre and the performing arts. He also played an important role in the first years of the Mayworks Festival. He personified the MayWorks theme: “Celebrating Labour and the Arts”. In 2006, he joined the MayWorks Board to contribute to the process of bringing the Festival to a new and wider audience. His energy, talent and enthusiasm will be deeply missed.

Download our 2006 ‘MayWorks at a glance’ overview.

The events leading to their deaths began more than one month earlier when at seven o’clock on the morning of May 15, 1919 Winnipeg’s female night shift telephone operators punched off duty. Unlike other days no day shift workers reported to work, in fact, the city’s industry and commerce fell silent as workers began what was to become known as the Winnipeg General Strike. The strike was called by the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council out of sympathy for the city’s building and metal trades workers whose employers would not negotiate with them. The strike lasted more than one month and involved 25,000 workers.

On May 14 a memorial was held at the grave Mike Sokolowski as part of the MayWorks Festival. MayWorks itself was established to commemorate the Winnipeg General Strike through works of art that celebrate the many positive contributions made by working people.

“A Touch of Class” featured songs from Danny Schur’s musical “Strike!”

Aidi Sara Kreindler performing in “A Touch of Class”