The fourth annual Fusion Beats showcase will be returning to the Sanderson Centre for Performing Arts on Tuesday, November 24, 2026.
The free event, presented by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Hub for Community Solutions, Laurier International Student Support, the City of Brantford and the Downtown Brantford BIA, is set to feature a dynamic lineup of local talent with music, dance and performance art.
From jazz saxophone quartets to line dancing, ukuleles, Central Asian folk dances, singer-songwriters, hip hop dance crews, bluegrass musicians and more, 11 acts will hit the stage throughout the night, including headliners Sonic Uke Ensemble.
“They’re a ukulele band, and actually, Abby Goodrum, who is on lead vocals, was the founder and long-term chair of the User Experience Design program here at Laurier,” said Christina Han, Director of the Laurier Hub for Community Solutions. “She’s a fantastic singer, and she and her friends created this band during the pandemic. They’ve been performing everywhere, so it will be great to have them come. They sing and play, and they also do some story telling. I think it will be a fantastic performance.”
While many participants are Laurier students themselves, many are part of the broader community as well.
“Every year is slightly different, and we especially had a lot of community members come to audition this year, so I think we have a really interesting lineup,” she said. “Last year we opened the auditions to community members and so not only do we have Laurier students performing like our hip hop dance crew KAOS, our theatre club and Bennett Honeyford, but we also other performers from the community like STOMPtastic, Hailey Purchase and two high school students from BCI.”
Having gotten its start in 2023, Han said the idea for the event came about from a discussion with Glen Brown, Theatre Manager for the Sanderson Centre.
“The idea for Fusion Beats came about when Glen reached out to me. We ended up sitting down together to come up with a solution to bring young people into the Sanderson Centre,” she recalled. “We always joke about how many of our students only go to the Sanderson Centre twice a year: once for orientation week and once for convocation. But since Fusion Beats was introduced four years ago, Glen has informed me that more students have been going to Sanderson shows, which is amazing.”
Han went on to say the event’s benefits have since extended beyond bringing more people into the theatre, and that it now offers an opportunity for the wider community to easily access and enjoy local talent.
“Not only is it a free event at the Sanderson Centre, which is huge, but it’s also family-friendly and open to all, which gives people the chance to really celebrate and recognize the local talent we have in Brantford,” she said. “I think for some of the performers, too, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get on that stage. That’s huge for young people, and for the families and friends who get to see them perform up there.”
The event takes place on Tuesday, November 24, at 7:00 p.m. While there’s no cost to attend, Han recommended registering for tickets in advance for a chance to be eligible to win prizes, including ticket giveaways for upcoming shows at the Sanderson Centre.
“It’s just a really great event and a well put together show, so we hope people will come and check it out,” she said.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
