page_title: Kingston, Ontario
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Kingston, Ontario / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: architecture of Princess Street in downtown Kingston, ON
context_page_description: Kingston is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River. The city is midway between Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. The Thousand Islands tourist region is nearby to the east. Kingston is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because of the many heritage buildings constructed using local limestone.
  Growing European exploration in the 17th century, and the desire for the Europeans to establish a presence close to local Native occupants to control trade, led to the founding of a French trading post and military fort at a site known as "Cataraqui" in 1673. This outpost, called Fort Cataraqui, and later Fort Frontenac, became a focus for settlement. Since 1760, the site of Kingston, Ontario, was in effective British possession. Cataraqui would be renamed Kingston after the British took possession of the fort, and Loyalists began settling the region in the 1780s.
  Kingston was named the first capital of the United Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. While its time as a capital city was short, the community has remained an important military installation.
context_section_description: Kingston hosts several festivals during the year, including the Kingston WritersFest, Limestone City Blues Festival, the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Artfest, the Kingston Buskers Rendezvous, Kingston Jazz Festival, the Reelout Queer Film Festival, Feb Fest, the Wolfe Island Music Festival, the Skeleton Park Arts Festival, Kingston Pride and Día de los Muertos Kingston Festival.
  Kingston is home to many artists who work in visual arts, media arts, literature, and a growing number who work in other time-based disciplines such as performance art. The contemporary arts scene in particular has two long standing professional non-profit venues in the downtown area, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (founded 1957), and Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre (founded 1977). Local artists often participate in the exhibition programming of each organization, while each also presents the work of artists from across Canada and around the world – in keeping with their educational mandates. Alternative venues for the presentation of exhibition programs in Kingston include the Union Gallery (Queen's University's student art gallery), Verb Gallery, Open Studio 22, the Kingston Arts Council gallery, The Artel: Arts Accommodations and Venue, and the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning.
  The Kingston WritersFest occurs annually. Circle of Wellness hosts Día de los Muertos Kingston Festival which occurs annually on the first Sunday of November. For over four decades the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston has hosted the "Lviv, Ukraine" pavilion as part of the Folklore tradition, holding this popular cultural and folk festival annually on the second full weekend in June (at Regiopolis-Notre Dame High School). Literary events also happen throughout the year at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library and local bookstores. Writers who are or have been residents of Kingston include Steven Heighton, Bronwen Wallace, Helen Humphreys, Michael Ondaatje, Diane Schoemperlen, Michael Crummey, Mark Sinnett, Mary Alice Downie, Robertson Davies, Wayne Grady, Merilyn Simonds, Alec Ross, Jamie Swift and Carolyn Smart.
  Music and theatre venues include the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, The Grand Theatre, and The Wellington Street Theatre, which host performances from international, national, and local groups like Domino Theatre, Theatre Kingston, The Vagabond Repertory Theatre Company, Hope Theatre Projects, Bottle Tree Productions, and other small groups dot the downtown area. The Kingston Symphony performs at The Grand Theatre, as do several amateur and semi-professional theatre groups. The Leon's Centre (renamed from K-Rock Centre) a 5,800-seat entertainment venue and ice rink, opened in February 2008.
  The city has spawned several musicians and musical groups, most of whom are known mainly within Canada, but a few of whom have achieved international success. These include The Tragically Hip, Steppenwolf frontman John Kay, The Glorious Sons, The Mahones, jazz singer Andy Poole, Bedouin Soundclash, Sarah Harmer, The Arrogant Worms, The Headstones, The Inbreds, The Meringues, PS I Love You and members of Moist, including singer David Usher.
  Kingston is also the birthplace of Bryan Adams. The first winner of the television series Canadian Idol was Kingston native Ryan Malcolm.
  Poet Michael Andre was raised in Kingston. Zal Yanovsky of The Lovin' Spoonful lived in Kingston until his death in 2002.
  Comedian and actor Dan Aykroyd has a residence just north of Kingston and is a frequent face in town. He was briefly a minor partner in a restaurant called Aykroyd's Ghetto House Café on upper Princess Street during the 1990s which prominently featured a Blues Brothers' car projecting out from the second story wall.
caption: Architecture of Princess Street
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