page_title: Sarnia
section_title: Music, theatre, and arts
hierarchical_section_title: Sarnia / Culture / Music, theatre, and arts
caption_attribution_description: English: One of the many displays in Sarnia's Celebration of Lights
context_page_description: Sarnia is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, and had a 2016 population of 71,594. It is the largest city on Lake Huron and in Lambton County. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron flows into the St. Clair River, which forms the Canada–United States border, directly across from Port Huron, Michigan. The site's natural harbour first attracted the French explorer La Salle. He named the site "The Rapids" on 23 August 1679, when he had horses and men pull his 45-ton barque Le Griffon north against the nearly four-knot current of the St. Clair River.
  This was the first time that a vessel other than a canoe or other oar-powered vessel had sailed into Lake Huron, and La Salle's voyage was germinal in the development of commercial shipping on the Great Lakes. Located in the natural harbour, the Sarnia port remains an important centre for lake freighters and oceangoing ships carrying cargoes of grain and petroleum products.
context_section_description: Sarnia's musical and theatrical presence in Southern Ontario is significant.  The International Symphony Orchestra plays at the Imperial Theatre for an annual season lasting from September to April. In addition to symphonic concerts, the Imperial Theatre offers year-round dramatic productions; Michael Learned played the lead in Driving Miss Daisy at the  theatre in 2010.  Former Max Webster frontman Kim Mitchell has returned to his hometown on occasion to play a concert, including his visit in 2008 for Sarnia's popular Ribfest, a competition where local amateur chefs share their recipes for barbecued ribs and compete against each other. Canadian composer and music educator Raymond Murray Schafer was born in Sarnia and developed his radical schizophonia techniques there.
  The Sarnia Bayfest (which was preceded by the "Festival by the Bay") was an annual concert festival that featured big-name rock and country bands. Musicians and groups such as Aerosmith, KISS, Keith Urban, Jon Bon Jovi and Rascal Flatts have played at the event. Financial problems caused the event's cancellation in 2013. In the summer of 2017, a new festival called Bluewater Borderfest enjoyed a successful inaugural event.
  Besides the single museum in Sarnia proper, six other museums in the local area document Sarnia's history, including its legacy as the home of the North American Oil Industry. Gallery Lambton offers 12 annual art exhibitions. In 2012 the Judith and Norman Alex Art Gallery opened. It is an international Category A art gallery, featuring exhibitions of Canadian art history, including paintings from the Group of Seven.
  During the Christmas season, the city of Sarnia presents the annual "Celebration of Lights" in Centennial Park. The event was created in 1984 by Dr. Wills Rawana and a committee funded by the retail chain Hudson's Bay, and the national telecommunications company Telus. From modest beginnings, the event has garnered numerous awards as it has grown, including second place in the 2002 Canadian Government's Canada WinterLights competition. The celebration was incorporated in its national prizewinning year and is now run by a voluntary Board of Directors.
caption: One of the many displays in Sarnia's Celebration of Lights
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