Just south of town there is a musical festival that seems to be taking a page from the movie Field of Dreams.
If you build it, they will come.
Located just 30 minutes south of town, 750 Pike Mountain Road is being transformed into what will be the site of Element Music Festival — a three-day music and camping event that is hosting its inaugural event July 29 to 31.
The 157-acre property on which the festival will be held was purchased 10 months ago with the hope of developing it into a premier outdoor venue and campground.
The festival is being organized by three individuals.
“We figured we’d just go through this first year as a bunch of friends putting it on,” said one of the founders Keith Duggan, who noted he’s worked in the events industry for 25 years.
Duggan said the past 10 months has been spent installing ‘structural infrastructure’ to the property.
He said they purchased a modular stage to set up for year one, but the long-term plan is to build three amphitheatres of various sizes on the property.
Duggan described developing the property as a five-year project.
“We’re going to do what we can year to year. This year there’s been a lot of infrastructure that we’ve been having to build — getting power lines run under ground, water, septic — there’s so many things that needed to go in this year,” he said.
Duggan said shower facilities, and a general store are planned for the future.
Happening the same weekend as the Merritt Rockin’ River Music Festival, if country music isn’t your thing, this festival offers almost every other type of music.
On tap will be 14 musical acts — many of which are B.C. based groups — including Five Alarm Funk, Kytami with Phonik Ops, Adham Shaikh and Outworld Orkestra and The Big Easy Funk Ensemble.
Between 600 and 800 attendees are expected.
The lineup of musical performers for the inaugural festival is expected to appeal to a broad range of the roots, groove, funk, folk, jazz and reggae music lovers. Music fans from the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Okanagan, the Kootenays and the northwestern U.S. are expected to make up the weekend’s audiences.
The event will include one main stage with smaller workshop and performance areas, as well as a vending village filled with food, arts and crafts, and a kids zone that includes storytelling, puppetry and face painting.
