The Beautiful History
of
Kultrun World Music Festival

Neruda Arts began as a beautifully idealistic dream. It was the belief of founding Artistic Director, Isabel Cisterna, that music was the universal language that could connect our community, and it was her vision that established Neruda Arts as one of the best loved arts organizations in the Waterloo Region. Neruda was named in memory of Pablo Neruda - Chile’s beloved poet.

In the beginning, Neruda presented smaller events and concerts until 2008, when the first annual LatinFest took over Waterloo Square with an exciting and colourful event celebrating the vibrant cultures of South America. By 2012, LatinFest had become so popular, it outgrew its venue. With a desire to expand the horizons of Neruda Arts, the next event conceived by the organization was to include music from around the globe; Kultrún World Music Festival.

The festival got its name from the Kultrún, a ceremonial drum and the most important musical instrument in Mapuche culture. Aside from music performers from across Canada and beyond, from emerging artists to established, well known artists, the festival offers, panels and discussions, interactive workshops for children and adults, from drumming circles, to theatre to dance, as well as international vendors with their arts and crafts and delicious fares.  

2012 was a game-changer for Neruda Arts, and ambitiously, presented both LatinFest and Kultrún in the same year. It was quickly evident that the focus should be on the later, which was like a bigger, better version of LatinFest and Kultrún World Music Festival would soon become Neruda Arts’ signature event.

For a weekend in July, from 2012 to 2019, Victoria Park erupted in a fabulous celebration of music, art, ethnic food, dance, theatre, workshops and an amazing feeling of love and joy. A proud moment came in 2019, when ‘Feel The Music’ , a concert designed for the deaf and hard of hearing became part of pre-Kultrún events. Our vibrotactile chairs transform sound to vibration, each instrument creating a unique vibration, extending to the participants a sense of music, something the deaf community has always been excluded from experiencing in any manner.

In 2020, COVID reared it’s ugly head, and the arts were some of the first things to close down, and the last to reopen. It was important to keep the artists working and being paid, so Kultrún became a virtual celebration. During the worst of the pandemic, Neruda Arts focused on infrastructure and renovated the old Wax Works recording studio in St. Jacobs - creating a home - including offices, a modest art gallery and a studio performance space. Emerging from a challenging year, and with many COVID protocols still in place.

Neruda Arts moved the festival to a smaller venue in the charming village of St. Jacobs. From 2021 - 2023, this became the new home for Kultrún World Music Festival and our newest festival, All That Worldly Jazz. Again, by 2024, Kultrún had quickly outgrown the St. Jacobs venue, and are looking forward to bringing this amazing event to Waterloo Park, while keeping the smaller All That Worldly Jazz Festival in place along the Conestoga River in St. Jacobs.

Throughout the years, Neruda Arts has works diligently to keep Kultrún a free event accessible to everyone. Neruda Arts was founded on the principles of inclusion - championing the marginalized and their dedication to represent Indigenous peoples, BIPOC, refugees, immigrants, the deaf, and other marginalized communities, and this continues to be the focus and vision of our organization, building bridges in our community through visual arts, theatre, dance…and of course, the heartbeat of Neruda Arts - music.