Planning for the 2014 Sturgis Canada motorcycle rally and music festival is going ahead smoothly, despite lingering trouble from the former Sturgis North festivals.

In a rare interview with the Herald, Sturgis Canada organizer Ray Sasseville said he wants Merrittonians to know organizers are looking forward to calling the old Mountainfest grounds Sturgis Canada’s permanent home.

Sasseville himself hopes to call Merritt home in the future.

“I want to bring people to town,” Sasseville said regarding his vision for the inaugural Merritt festival, slated for Aug. 21 to 24. “I want to see some kind of resurrection of Merritt like it used to be, as I attended every year of the Merritt Mountain Music Festival. I would like to move to Merritt, I would like to put more festivals on that property, and bring some economy back here.”

This year’s will be the first event under the new name Sturgis Canada.

Formerly Sturgis North, the first festival was held in 2011 in Salmon Arm and the following year in Vernon. The company announced plans to hold a 2013 festival in Merritt, but that event was cancelled.

Plans for the 2014 festival are on track, Sasseville said.

Among events planned for the first Merritt event are specialty rides, including one to Vancouver to do some whale watching; one through the Okanagan to do wine tastings; a veterans’ ride and a ladies’ cancer ride.

On the music side of things, Sasseville has organized a Battle of the Bands and a concert lineup that’s 95 per cent Canadian rock ‘n’ roll.

The rebrand to Sturgis Canada reflects the festival’s focus on Canadian music, Sasseville said.

The name change was not an attempt to hide the festival’s past, he said. Organizers owe about $200,000 to creditors in Salmon Arm, and are working on a resolution with the Vernon Motoplex regarding the 2012 festival.

Sturgis Canada intends to pay those creditors back in full, Sasseville said. There will be a plan to reimburse the creditors who are owed from Sturgis North, but the details will be kept private.

“When the plan is in place, they will be notified and they will have an option to be part of it or not. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

“Do we have an obligation to these creditors? Absolutely. Morally, we do.”

Earlier this month, Sturgis North launched a civil lawsuit against a reporter/blogger and several people involved in past festivals.

Sasseville said organizers have learned from their past mistakes, including the value of infrastructure at the festival site and having on-site camping.

“We went through so much in the first two years of our festival. Nobody would believe it,” he said. “All the interactions of people, all the greed … it’s just … wow. I’ve learned so much in these two years.

“Over the whole thing, my objective in the festival has never been about making money. It’s never been about the money, ever. It’s always been about promoting motorcycles, a place for motorcyclists to go, a place for them to go where they feel comfortable and are with like people.”

Sasseville said that objective remains the same going into this summer’s festival, and the company is intent on sorting out the past so it can move forward.

“Let us make it right. We will accomplish it. We would prefer assistance, not resistance,” Sasseville said.