Music, art and community make ‘Supercrawl special,’ say attendees as festival gets underway | CBC News

Supercrawl has arrived in Hamilton once more. 

Thousands flooded James Street North for the 15th edition of the yearly festival, which started on Friday.

“I feel like everything has its own piece to it that makes Supercrawl special,” said Machaela Trench, an attendee.

Trench and her mother, Felecia, have made visiting the festival a yearly tradition. The Hamiltonians said one of their favourite parts of the festival was the music.

“It’s just everybody coming together and having a good time,” said Felecia.

Supercrawl drew in over 275,000 people in 2022, which was the festival’s comeback year after the pandemic.

It runs this year until Sunday on James Street North, which is closed to cars and is set to reopen Monday morning.

For the 15th anniversary, Supercrawl says it has expanded lineup featuring 40 musical acts, as well as performance and visual artists and fashion shows. 

Artist Ness Lee is one of them. They could be found painting on the road in front of Centre 3 on Friday evening as part of their performance painting, for our givings.

“It’s based on the theme of forgiveness,” they told CBC Hamilton.

Originally from Toronto, Lee is currently the artist in residence at Centre 3 in Hamilton.

This is their first Supercrawl and said she liked the focus the festival had on art.

Just up the street, Hamilton artist Michelle Lepine said the first day of the event was busier than she expected.

“I love this event. I’m so happy that it’s here. I’m grateful that this is here in Hamilton and I have the opportunity to be able to do this,” she said.

Lepine, whose business runs under the name BaumbChell, was one of four artists at the Dope Chief studios booth.

The illustrator and painter said she’s looking forward to staying connected with the artist community.

Supercrawl continues Saturday and Sunday.