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North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual five-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, held each June.

It began in 1994 and was patterned on the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Each year, over 50 music venues host hundreds of bands from Canada, the United States and all over the world. Most music venues hosts five bands a night (9 p.m. onward), and the majority of the venues are grouped along downtown Toronto's Queen St. West, College St. West, and the Bloor St. Annex.

The music conference at NXNE runs for three days at the Hyatt Regency on King (formerly the Holiday Inn) Hotel which serves as festival headquarters. NXNE delegates, panelists and bands playing the festival are able to participate in discussions, songwriter round tables, keynotes, demo listening and peer critiquing, legal clinics and the very helpful peer mentor sessions. The NXNE conference panels are held Friday and Saturday, and aim to foster a professional environment where musicians, artists and music industry reps can network and share ideas within their field.

A film festival was added in 2001 to run concurrently with the weekend music festival and industry conference, in conjunction with the National Film Board of Canada. Films are primarily music related documentaries and videos. NXNE also has a film showcase at the popular Hot Docs Film Festival.

North by Northeast is a volunteer driven music festival. The dedication and enthusiasm of NXNE volunteers caught the eye of Andrew Loog Oldham (the 2002 keynote speaker), who remarked that NXNE volunteers reminded him of why he originally entered into the music business.

NOW Magazine is a major sponsor, and its owners hold an ownership interest in the festival.

Sketchy is the unofficial mascot of NXNE (since 2005). A few extremely rare stuffed Sketchy rabbits have since appeared on stage at gigs in the UK and North America. Bands have been encouraged to submit photos to Flickr and tag them 'nxnerabbit'.

[edit] Conference

The NXNE Conference attracts over 2,300 delegates for celebrity interviews and music-biz panels that ask tough questions and dish out straight answers. The demo-listening and mentoring sessions tell you what you need to know to keep your career going deep into the 21st century. Past guests include Police drummer Stewart Copeland, The Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten, guerrilla songwriters Steve Earle and Bruce Cockburn, Peaches, Patti Smith, Thomas Dolby and The Rolling Stones Andrew Loog Oldham.

[edit] External links

• North by Northeast