Norbert Topolski creates, produces, and organizes music behind the scenes. His connection to Heart of the City Music and Arts Festival is multi-faceted. In 2016, he and his band, Boosh and the Dip (with bandmates Jordan, Bob, Chris, JP, J-reds, and Tyler), performed on the main stage, with Norbert rapping on the mic. He joined the organizing board in 2022 as the Music Director and Treasurer, positions he held until 2024. 

Before HOTC, Norbert (or, Boosh), started a busker-style, grassroots festival called Streets Rise Up. The idea arose after a winter of busking: a street performance in a public space, performing for donations, all for Boyle Street Community Services.

“I had a little drum machine . . . and Jordan would be playing guitar. We would loop it, and I would rap the whole thing, and then we spent a winter or two just not having jobs and just busking . . . And then I just randomly called Boyle Street. I’d never been there, I’d never talked to anyone there, I didn’t know anything about Boyle Street.” 

Sebastian Barrera answered the phone and he encouraged Norbert to move forward with his idea. An event was created on Facebook, and it took off. “The first year the police threatened me; they said they were going to charge me with inciting a riot if anything went sideways ‘cause I never got any permits . . . and then the day before the event, it started getting a really big following online, like 3000-4000 people were saying they were going to the event . . . The second year the City offered their support.” 

The connection between Streets Rise Up and HOTC was obvious. “That’s what linked me to Heart of the City because Sebastian kept hyping Streets Rise Up and was encouraging me to get involved [with HOTC].”

Boosh and the Dip has been compared to Rage Against the Machine in sound and musical perspective. Norbert goes on to describe the summer of 2019. “We had a little tour of festivals around Alberta and ended it at South Country Fair. We got to headline the Saturday night; it was quite a dream come true.” 

Their final performance was a private booking in St. Albert. “We really bombed,” he says of their last show. “It was a real high and then that happened and then it just blew the wind out of our sails.”

Norbert is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Business Administration, in community economic development. “It’s focused on non-profits and my focus is on housing.” He works for the Bissell Centre as a Development Officer, coordinating grants. Before that he worked for Boyle Street Community Services. 

“I started working there after Streets Rise Up. Working in the drop-in . . . and then I got into housing.” He describes a project he is particularly proud of: “my first supervisor role when [bridge housing] launched at Coliseum Inn.”

Norbert is still involved with music production companies, promoters, artists, and community organizers. “I still produce music, I don’t really release it; my community involvement is trying to find money for the arts.” 

He is motivated by the stories people tell him. “The poetic nature of life. If you’re . . . paying attention there’s so many seemingly purposeful things that are happening.”

Rachael Roberts is a board member with the Heart of the City Festival, where she has volunteered since 2013. She is a mother, a teacher, and a lifelong Edmontonian who loves this community.