AMPLIFY – Polaris Festival & Harbourfront Centre Present Savannah Ré, Julianna Riolino, Witch Prophet and Adria Kain
Free, No Registration Required | September 19, 20 & 26, 2026 | Toronto | Harbourfront Centre / Toronto Music Garden | All Ages | Accessible
In celebration of the 2026 Polaris Festival, presented by SiriusXM Canada, Polaris Music Prize has partnered with Harbourfront Centre and The Waterfront BIA to present a series of free concerts on Toronto’s iconic waterfront featuring Savannah Ré, Julianna Riolino, Witch Prophet and Adria Kain.
The 2026 Polaris Festival is a month-long celebration of Canadian music as art, bringing together concerts, salons, listening sessions, conversations, artist development initiatives and the Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony at Massey Hall. Through the Festival, Polaris creates space for audiences to listen differently, gather around important Canadian albums and explore how music shapes culture, identity, memory and belonging.
These free waterfront concerts bring Polaris-recognized artists into public space, creating opportunities for audiences to encounter Canadian music with attention, care and curiosity. Presented in collaboration with Harbourfront Centre and The Waterfront BIA, the series reflects a shared commitment to accessible cultural experiences, artist discovery and live music in the places where people already gather.
Concert Schedule
Savannah Ré
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 7:30 PM–8:30 PM
Garden Pavilion, Harbourfront Centre / Toronto Music Garden
Julianna Riolino
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 2:00 PM–3:00 PM
Toronto Music Garden
Witch Prophet
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Garden Pavilion, Harbourfront Centre / Toronto Music Garden
Adria Kain
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Garden Pavilion, Harbourfront Centre / Toronto Music Garden
Savannah Ré | Saturday, September 19, 2026, 7:30 PM–8:30 PM
Three-time consecutive JUNO Award winner for Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year and five-time JUNO Award nominee Savannah Ré has become the one to watch in Canadian R&B. By making music with the unyielding intention to craft songs that forfeit polished stories for authentic ones, the Toronto artist has become the go-to collaborator for R&B’s upper echelon, having written with artists like Babyface, Normani, Wondagurl and her mentor, Grammy Award-winning producer Boi-1da.
Savannah Ré’s critically-lauded debut EP Opia earned her shoutouts from the likes of SZA and Timbaland and multiple award nominations including a place in music history as the first artist to ever be nominated for both the Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year and the Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year JUNO Awards, the first artist to ever receive the Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year JUNO Award and, after winning it for a second time in 2022, and a third time in 2023, the only artist to receive the award to date.
Julianna Riolino | Sunday, September 20, 2026, 2:00 PM–3:00 PM
Julianna Riolino considers her own growth on her sophomore record, Echo In The Dust. By Riolino’s own admission, Echo In The Dust is different from her debut, All Blue. On these songs, the Southern Ontario musician is soft as she is tough; seeing the benefit of laying down armour and splitting her heart open so that we may get a glimpse of our own.
The songs on Echo In The Dust consider relationships of all sorts as the foundation for her awakening into a renewed creative self and person in this world, working through loss, grief, habits, and decisions she once made, seeking clarity in the past before leaving it to move forward. The adage “you don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been”rings especially true on this album.
Echo In The Dust builds on the alt-country elements ofAll Blue.“It’s kind of punk, it’s rock n’ roll, it’s still kind of country. It’s more rocking than All Blue. It’san amalgamation of everything going on in my mind.”
Witch Prophet | Saturday, September 26, 2026, 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Witch Prophet is a Toronto-based, Ethiopian/Eritrean singer-songwriter, producer, and creative visionary whose work blends jazz fusion, neo-soul, and trip-hop, with multilingual vocals in English, Tigrinya, and Amharic. Drawing on her ancestral lineage and lived experience, she creates spiritually resonant, groove-centered music that feels both futuristic and deeply rooted.
Her critically acclaimed discography (including The Golden Octave, D.N.A Activation, and Gateway Experience) has earned praise from Billboard, Pitchfork, Complex, FADER, CBC Music, Exclaim!, Bandcamp, and more, along with Polaris Prize short list and long list recognition. Known for her hypnotic vocal style, rich harmonies, and boundary-pushing sonic worlds, Witch Prophet has performed at major festivals such as Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, The Great Escape (UK), SXSW (Austin), MAMA Festival (Paris), and New Skool Rules (Rotterdam). She has shared stages with and opened for Sudan Archives, Tash Sultana, JPEGMAFIA, KeiyaA, CLIPPING, Pierre Kwenders, Begonia, Lido Pimienta, and more.
Her latest album, Words Are Spells / Thoughts Are Magic marks her most expansive work yet -—a dual-sided project exploring the power of language, thought, and intention. Produced by Witch Prophet and her wife/collaborator SUN SUN, the album merges ancestral resonance with contemporary soul, offering a transformative musical experience. A magnetic performer and genre-defying storyteller, Witch Prophet continues to carve a singular path in today’s global music landscape.
Adria Kain | Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Adria Kain is a Toronto based artist known for sharing raw and honest lived experiences through her soul filled melodies and thought provoking lyricism.
She came up through The Remix Project with DVSN’s Daniel Daley and Jessie Reyez. Her vocal range and unique tone quickly set her apart and has garnered acclaim from Complex, Fader, CBC & many more.
Early on in her career, she sang the hook for PARTYNEXTDOOR’s ‘Thirsty’. Her project ‘When Flowers Bloom’ landed her new found traction, such as a JUNO nominations, as well as a nomination for a Polaris Prize, and a COLORS performance which blew away the likes of TI, Lena Waithe, Rapsody, Joe Budden & more.
About Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre is Canada’s community waterfront, home of arts, culture and education, and a registered charitable not-for-profit cultural organization operating a 10-acre campus on Toronto’s central waterfront.
Harbourfront Centre provides year-round programming, supporting a wide range of artists and communities. It inspires audiences and visitors with bold, ambitious and engaging experiences, championing Canadian artists throughout their careers, presenting them alongside international artists and fostering artistic exchanges between disciplines and cultures.
About the Polaris Festival
Polaris Music Prize is a Canadian charitable arts organization honouring music as art. Through its Album, Song and Heritage Prizes, Polaris amplifies Canadian artists based on artistic merit.
The 2026 Polaris Festival is presented by SiriusXM Canada and made possible through the support of Experience Ontario, Ontario Creates, the City of Toronto’s Cultural Festivals Funding Program, FACTOR, the Government of Canada, Canada’s private radio broadcasters and the Festival’s many community and venue partners.
