HOLD ON LET GO unveils lineup for 15th-annual experimental arts festival
Performing-arts series produced by Theatre Replacement and Company 605 spans a live cake tasting, an ode to an Indigenous matriarch, and beyond
Dancers of Damelahamid’s Raven Mother. Photo by Michael Slobodian
Keely O’Brien’s Secret Ingredients.
HOLD ON LET GO, Theatre Replacement and Company 605’s annual performing-arts festival, is returning for a 15th edition of experimental works from February 4 to 8 at the Russian Hall in East Vancouver.
Co-curated by Lisa Mariko Gelley, Josh Martin, and Maiko Yamamoto, the independently produced series has just announced its 2025 lineup, which will feature seven new works by Canadian artists and companies. This year’s presentations will offer bold new takes on age-old subjects and conversations.
Programming will kick off on February 4 at 7 pm with the world premiere of Keely O’Brien’s theatre project Secret Ingredients, which was developed through Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER artist residency and debuted as a work-in-progress at HOLD ON LET GO last year. Prior to the show, folks can use an online forum to submit words they have difficulty expressing to someone in their life; O’Brien will then translate those messages onto cakes and serve them to an audience with a live performance and tasting that unpacks the intricacies of human relationships. Following Secret Ingredients at 8:30 pm, festival-goers can celebrate at a by-donation Opening Night Party.
Among the other main-stage presentations to look forward to is Raven Mother, the Dancers of Damelahamid’s groundbreaking new work that premiered at The Cultch this fall. The multimedia dance show is dedicated to the late elder Margaret Harris (who founded the Dancers of Damelahamid in 1967) and the important role she played in revitalizing Gitxsan song and dance.
Kyle Loven’s Loss Machine. Photo by Tim Summers
Also on the main stage is Kyle Loven’s solo show Loss Machine, which combines a miniature installation with experimental puppetry; Sex, Drugs and Criminality by Toronto’s Mammalian Diving Reflex, which features conversations between Vancouver teenagers and famous actors; and Halifax creative company Zuppa’s web-based game The Archive of Missing Things (audience members will bring their own laptops to the Russian Hall to play the game while visual components are shared).
The fest will present two in-development works this year: interactive theatre piece it is for when you meet me by Anjela Magpantay, and FakeKnot’s new ballroom-inspired creation MY HOUSE. Plus, Amanda Sum has once again curated the Emerging Artist Series featuring three events (an artist talk, mixer, and panel discussion).
Several more festival gatherings will take place over the course of the week, including the Accelerator Lab Community Conversation with experimental artists O’Brien, Loven, Davey Samuel Calderon, and Aryo Khakpour. In dialogue with Theatre Replacement’s artistic director Yamamoto, they will share three months’ worth of findings on the current state of international touring and mobility within the arts community.
Festival passes for all events are officially on sale. Browse a full program of happenings on HOLD ON LET GO’s website. 
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