Jasperites are invited to Hinton for 鈥渢hree days of musical bliss鈥� this weekend, as 24 musical acts roll into Entrance Ranch to rock the stage at the Wild Mountain Music Festival.
The annual weekend of good tunes, good food and good company kicks off Friday evening with musical performances by Colleen Brown, Lee Harvey Osmond, Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra and Gord Downie, The Sadies and the Conquering Sun, just to name a few.
The following day, music gets underway at noon, featuring everyone from Marco Calliari鈥攁 crowd favourite at least year鈥檚 festival鈥攖o Canadian legends, Blue Rodeo.
Also taking the stage on Saturday is the Devin Cuddy Band, whose frontman is the son of Blue Rodeo鈥檚 Jim Cuddy.
鈥淲e鈥檙e billing it out as 180 minutes of Cuddy on Saturday night,鈥� said festival president, Brian LaBerge. 鈥淚 think the combination of the Devin Cuddy Band and Blue Rodeo is going to be awesome.鈥�
LaBerge has seen both bands perform in Edmonton and he said he鈥檚 ecstatic to have them in Hinton for this year鈥檚 festival.
鈥淸Blue Rodeo] is exactly what we need on the Wild Mountain stage. They鈥檙e eclectic, they cross genre, they cross age鈥攕o, as far as a headliner goes, they鈥檙e a pretty broad and pretty all encompassing act.鈥�
Music carries on through Sunday, but not before the Strathcona Mounted Troop puts on a show, complete with 20 horses and 20 riders.
That show begins at 11 a.m. and will carry on until noon when the music starts.
鈥淭he Strathcona Mounted Troop is back by popular demand,鈥� said LaBerge. 鈥淧eople loved them and lots of people missed them last year, so we鈥檙e going to bring them back once more.鈥�
Sunday鈥檚 lineup includes the likes of Back Porch Swing, Ivory Hours and Dehli 2 Dublin.
Of all the acts, LaBerge said he鈥檚 most excited to see Gord Downie, The Sadies and the Conquering Sun鈥攁 new collaboration between the Tragically Hip鈥檚 Downie and long-time Canadian rock 鈥榥鈥� roll band, The Sadies.
鈥淚 think the lineup speaks for itself,鈥� said LaBerge while at the festival grounds, July 14. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lot of interesting things for people to see.鈥�
This year鈥檚 festival will also have a new look, as the grounds have been reconfigured to allow for more performance space and increased camping, and there is also a new stage taking the place of the Town of Hinton鈥檚 鈥淪howmobile.鈥�
鈥淭he new field layout is killer. It鈥檚 really exciting,鈥� said LaBerge.
Tickets, as well as the complete festival lineup, are available online at www.wildmountainmusicfest.ca. Anyone interested in volunteering for the 鈥渓argest 100 per cent volunteer run festival in Canada鈥� is also encouraged to visit the website to fill out a volunteer form.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
