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This Hisses (SUPPLIED PHOTO)

January in Winnipeg is typically cold, long and dark, leaving most people with an intense urge to hibernate. But let’s face it: there’s only so much TV-on-DVD and YouTube clips you can watch before you forget how to interact with, you know, actual people.
   
Luckily for you poor, cabin-fevered souls, a group of five forward-thinking twentysomethings saw potential in the worst month of the year and created Big Fun, Winnipeg’s newest annual indie music festival. Taking place Jan. 26 through 29 throughout the Exchange District, Big Fun is a multi-genre, multi-venue event inspired by the likes of Pop Montreal and North by Northeast.
   
Stefan Braun, one of Big Fun’s organizers, had experience volunteering with Pop Montreal and was fired up about starting a similar event here in the ’Peg. So, he called up his pals Lauren Swan, Aaron Johnston, Eryn Maloney and David Schellenberg in the summer to get the ball rolling.
   
"When Stefan brought the idea to me over a hangover breakfast at The Nook, I had just finished a marketing and PR program," says Swan over speakerphone from the Lo Pub, Big Fun’s HQ. "The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn’t that big of a stretch. We had our first meeting and realized that this was a real possibility."
   
Or course, putting on a music festival is a shitload of work, so it helps that the members of the Big Fun organizing committee — all musicians and artists themselves — were ready and willing to pull their weight.
   
"The five of us were very committed from the beginning," Johnston says. "We’ve been putting in a great deal of effort and time."
   
"We only had five months from inception to the first night of the festival," Swan adds. "It’s surprised us how much we’ve gotten done."
   
That said, the group has encountered a few challenges. For one, Big Fun’s ethos is as much about promoting underused or overlooked venues — such as galleries, lofts and  vacant warehouse spaces — as it is about promoting our vibrant music scene. (It’s a move that’s especially timely, what with the recent closures of such Exchange District venues as The Death Trap, The Ragpickers Annex and, of course, The Royal Albert.)
   
"That was a big part of the project, finding venues that weren’t usual spaces for shows," Swan says. "That took a lot of walking around the Exchange District and calling people we knew. We ended up finding a great batch of venues." (Those include such spaces as the Exchange Community Church on Albert Street and the Atomic Centre on Logan Avenue.)
   
As for the music, Big Fun’s lineup features some of the city’s most buzzed-about bands, including established acts such as This Hisses, Tim Hoover and The Lytics, and emerging acts such as Departures, Slow Dancers and Bog River.
   
"Artistically, we didn’t know what the size of the event would be, so we just got bands we liked," Johnston says with a laugh. "Our vision was to have a multi-genre lineup. We also wanted to match up bands that may not otherwise play together."
   
"We made an effort to curate each evening so that no show is competing against each other," Swan says. "We staggered the shows, as well, so you can see a good chunk of one show and still catch another."
   
Best of all, Big Fun is accessible in terms of both location and cost.
   
"We wanted to keep it as affordable as possible," Johnston says, noting that most individual Big Fun shows are between $5 and $7, with the exception of The Lytics gig, which is $12 in advance and $14 at the door.
   
"That’s why that show isn’t included in the $30 festival pass," Swan explains. "We wanted to keep the price down as much as we could."
   
It’s enough to get anyone out of hibernation — bands included.
   
"January is kind of a dead zone in Winnipeg," Johnston says. "Everyone talks about the fact that the reason Winnipeg’s so creative is because it’s so cold here — but we wanted to give bands an outlet and something to look forward to."
   
For more info, check out bigfunfestival.blogspot.com. You can also ‘Like’ Big Fun on Facebook to receive details about secret shows and after parties.

BIG FUN FESTIVAL
Jan. 26 – 29, various venues

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BIG FUN 2012 Schedule

Thu., Jan. 26, 9 p.m. • aceartinc., 290 McDermot Ave. – Pop Crimes, This Hisses, Mahogany Frog; Tix $7 @ door

Fri., Jan. 27, 9 p.m. • aceartinc. – Vela, Blunderspublik, Tim Hoover; Tix $7 @ door

Fri., Jan. 27, 9 p.m. • Atomic Centre, 167 Logan Ave. – The Girth, Atomic Don & the Black Sunrise, The Mystics, Rock Lake; Tix $7 @ door

Sat., Jan. 28, 8 p.m. • Into The Music, 245 McDermot Ave. – Slow Dancers, Soft Core, Ultra Mega; Free

Sat., Jan. 28, 9 p.m. • Exchange Community Loft, 75 Albert St. – Spirit Children, Narwhal Strike, Departures, Veridians; Tix $7 @ door

Sat., Jan. 28, 9 p.m. •Atomic Centre – Rebel Yell, The Lytics; Tix $12 @ Into the Music, Music Trader, $15 @ door (not included in festival pass)

Sun., Jan. 29, 9 p.m. • Lo Pub, 330 Kennedy St. – Jonnie Vaude & the Villains, Zoppa, Bog River; Tix $7 @ door
   

Festival passes are $30 at Into the Music, Music Trader, Black Sheep Diner and the Lo Pub.