New Arts and Culture magazine What’s On Live Stratford launched with June issue

Keep an eye open for the free issue of the new arts and culture magazine What’s On Live Stratford.

The inaugural issue of What’s On Live Stratford has been launched as both a magazine and live webapp listing local events. This is the brainchild of local musician, entrepreneur and previous magazine publisher Barry James Payne.

Payne was inspired when on tour out west, in Red Deer to be precise, and came across the magazine called Red Deer Scene which was essentially an event listing of everything going on in the city. Right away he thought that Stratford needed something similar that provided not only static listings, but a way to access an event listing spontaneously online while already out. With that idea, whatsonlive.ca was conceived.

“I was thinking about people out to dinner or out for drinks with friends and they could scan this QR Code or pullup the webapp if it is bookmarked to see what’s happening and the events are quickly listed on your screen rather than having to navigate through websites. It makes it easy to make an impulsive decision,” said Payne.

This will be of interest to locals and tourists alike. Anybody going out to see any kind of live art event or music, which is Payne’s passion, spoken word, poetry, a book launch, a gallery opening. In fact, it has been opened up to restaurants with guest chefs or bars with guest bartenders.

“We will listen to people and see what they want and if we can build it into the system, and we can try and do that, but it’s all about what people want at the end of the day,” he said.

The timing of the launch couldn’t be any better. It seems that the arts and culture scene in Stratford is in a bit of a renaissance moment with so much going on.

“For a town this size it is just bustling and draws people from all over southwestern Ontario, the U.S. and elsewhere. We can connect those dots with people visiting to really understand what else is going on, whether they came for theatre or (Stratford) Summer Music, and all the venues that are here in town. The one thing that really excites me is there is a little walking map. On each venue there is an icon that if you click it, it opens up a map and shows you how to get where you want to go,” Payne said.

Having a dedicated media for the arts is an important part of his mission and the magazine takes a deeper dive into the scene and advances shows coming up that month or the next. It is easy to read, easy to find in a hard copy format as well as digital on the website.

Looking forward to the first issue, readers can expect many articles and event listings for the month. Those wanting to be listed as part of the event listing on the webapp and magazine can simply create a login on whatsonlive.ca and follow the prompts to add the event.

“The magazine is out now and there’s a really great story about Duke Ellington who used to come here and there’s a story about Art in the Park for anyone interested in a bit of the history. There’s an overview about Stratford as a music city and delves into a bit of the history but also the current artists and events that are happening to see just how busy it is in town. Each issue will have a fine artist featured on the cover and an interview with the artist inside which is a nice feature that helps to amplify that side of the arts umbrella,” said Payne.

The magazine is a free monthly periodical and can be found at most coffee shops, bars, the library, Fanfare Books, Bradshaws, or anyone can pick one up, or replenish a stack at the Stratford Business Centre where there is a good inventory.

The webapp can be accessed at whatsonlive.ca and the digital copy of the magazine can be found at whatsonlive.ca/magazine.

Editor’s note: Lisa Chester is a contributor to What’s On Live Stratford.