Thank you, Blue Denim Press, for your previous sponsorship of the festival and for returning this year as a sponsor of the 2022 Northumberland Festival of the Arts!

Since 2007, Shane Joseph, owner of Blue Denim Press, has been a core supporter of the arts in Northumberland County. We welcome him back and thank him for the knowledge and experience he brings to the process of developing this year’s festival.

Blue Denim Press has been publishing in Cobourg since 2011.  Starting out with two works a year and building up to the current four a year, Blue Denim Press publishes quality fiction, memoir and non-fiction from Canadian writers, many of whom are local to Northumberland County. In addition, Blue Denim Press regularly publishes anthologies of works by local groups, including the biennial Hill Spirits anthologies from the Spirit of the Hills Writers and the 2021 anthology, Our Pandemic Times, from Northumberland Festival of the Arts.

Shane not only selects, edits, designs, produces, and markets all the books Blue Denim Press publishes, he also designs the covers and does the accounting.  He has a personal approach to the writers he works with, shepherding each manuscript through from start to finish, promoting the published books, and submitting deserving titles for writing awards competitions.

As a writer himself, Shane feels passionately about the enormous importance of festivals like NFOTA. “We need them for many reasons,” he says. “The arts – painting, dance, poetry, fiction – are often fragmented into small groups, official and unofficial, and the festival is a place to bring creators from different disciplines together over the space of two weeks. We can showcase ourselves. The festival can grow, and we have a chance to be part of something larger.”

This coming together of the various arts, makes an enormous impact, both locally and further afield. The festival is a way to exhibit the work of artists and writers here in Northumberland County, to promote work that often references local themes, scenes, and histories. New authors, particularly those who are older, get a chance to promote their work, and new readers have a chance to discover them.  It gives creators a place to grow and to become known. The festival increasingly attracts attendees from Toronto and further afield. Media such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter help get the message out and provide a larger audience.

For more information about Blue Denim Press, visit the website

Article written by Elizabeth Hammond

Northumberland Festival of the Arts will take place across Northumberland County from September 16 – October 2, 2022.

Northumberland Festival of the Arts is a volunteer-run not-for-profit arts organization.

To volunteer for NFOTA, please contact info@festivalofthearts.ca

To help support our events, please send your donation by Interac to fundraising@festivalofthearts.ca