Listening Sessions at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm

Free Admission. Drop in, First come, first serve with some spaces reserved.

This year, the Heart of the City Festival theme 'Community is Our Mentor' resonates strongly with the LOBE Studio team who’ve partnered with RayCam Community Centre, Crackdown Podcast and the Festival.

With support from the City of Vancouver, Lobe Sound Studio has provided a residency to musician/composer James Ash and RayCam to work on community audio projects. Mentored by Ian Wyatt and Alex Penney, James created two sound mixes: one to a 2008 recording of poet Bud Osborn reading his poem No Matter How Vicious the System Is; and the second, to an excerpt from the Crackdown Podcast, Episode 31: Love, Death and Benzodope (April 22, 2022).

Crackdown is a Vancouver-based podcast about drug user resistance, led by long time drug user-activist, Garth Mullins. In the excerpt, Garth talks to Trey Helten, a leader in the City's harm reduction response to the deadly new drug combo known as benzodope.