You may have seen some familiar faces out at Raw Sugar Café on the afternoon of May 15th for the exciting lineup announcement of this year’s Arboretum Festival. Herd Magazine’s Photography Guru Pat Bolduc and Music Editor Matías Muñoz were on hand to fill our readers in on all the details about what Arboretum 2013 has in store, as Artistic Director Rolf Klausener and Managing Director Stéphanie Power gave a brief overview of what we can expect. Here’s what you need to know:

If you ventured downtown on May 9th to get a haircut like I did, itʼs likely you were weaving through some 10,000 people in bright clothing with equally loud opinions. Like myself, you may have been wondering what the hell was going on. Congratulations, you found yourself in the middle of the pro-life rally that graces our nations capital year after.

Relocation is a photography collaboration that is punctuated by oppositions that exist within an enforced yet volatile harmony, much like the city they illustrate. The project originated through the acknowledgement of similar circumstances between disconnected people, a recognition of the forces and circumstances that bind, connect and draw people to their new, often imposed, home, Ottawa.

On Friday, May 17th, 25 local musicians from a variety of genres and bands will throw their names into a hat to be randomly grouped into 5 news bands. Each new band has 24 hours to create a 20- to 30-minute set of all original music. Anything goes and it all comes down to luck of the draw—indie rockers might be paired with hip-hop rappers, a violinist and two drummers.

The Ottawa International Game Conference (OIGC) is the 2nd annual game conference featuring speakers, keynotes, sessions, and parties for everyone in the game industry, as well as those interested in getting into the industry. The conference has grown significantly from last year’s, to 3 days, over 40 speakers, and 6 parties.

On May 6th three brothers from three various mothers will celebrate a family reunion at Oz Kafe. Blood is thicker than water, but paint is thicker than the both combined. Come treat your eyeballs to all new Paintings and limited run T shirts by Phil Laporte, Matt Watson, & Pat Buck notoriously known as the Read more.

Our good friends at Kich are turning 3 and want you to come help them celebrate! The crew at Kichesippi will be opening up the Brewery located at 866 Campbell Ave. on Sunday April 28th from 12pm till 5 pm for a day of beer and cheer, food and fun!

With Herd Magazine’s Issue 3 launch party fast approaching, we thought it would be nice to give an idea of what to expect on the music front. Mercury Lounge is a unique, intimate venue located in the heart of Ottawa’s Byward Market, and serves as a perfect stage for rapper Jesse Dangerously and indie folk-rock band Little Stella to show off their stuff. Here’s what you can expect.

We’ve been invited to attend The Fourth Annual Walrus National Gallery Debate! The topic in discussion is in regards to “culture, patriotism, and Canada’s place in the world,” as posted on the Walrus website. This event has sold out every year, so we are absolutely delighted to be invited as VIPs!  What’s The Walrus? The Read more.

Hintonburg just added another great local shop to its ever growing list! Slaysh, our featured self starter in Issue 01, has made the move from their original location in the Glebe to 1282 Wellington W.

If you don’t know about Creative Mornings, you’ve been missing an essential part of the creative community in Ottawa. They’ve just launched their new website and blog and will be bringing some interesting content and insight on their monthly talks.

Okay, so the title “Eva Bee’s Jamboree,” does indeed give off the kid’s playhouse, sort of impression. But this is more of a jamboree for our kind. With witty content and awesome cooking instruction, this show gives Ottawa a place to embrace the silly, and express it in music and food!

The music industry has gone through a series of significant changes with respect to how music is sold, consumed and shared. While many of us were just becoming cognizant of music’s appeal before MP3s existed, the structure of the industry was, in a lot of ways, fundamentally different than it is today.

Leaving the National Arts Centre (NAC) on March 23rd, there was an evident thrill, it was airborne and contagious. As I exited through the crowd, I caught a few words exchanged between other concert goers. Words like: “That was incredible!” “They’re so darling!” “What a show!” “Blown away!” We’d be hard-pressed to find a single spectator at the Whitehorse show that night who wasn’t captivated by the magical set performed in front of an audience of 865 people.