Over two years have passed since the City of Merritt thrived with bass and twang from the two music festivals that are key to bringing a cash influx and tourism into the local economy.
However, hopes are high for the return of both the Bass Coast Festival and the Rockin’ River Country Music Festival in 2022, both of which City Council is throwing their full support behind.
Letters were presented at the Oct. 12 regular City Council meeting addressed to the organizers of both events, signed by Mayor Linda Brown. In each, Mayor Brown expressed a desire to support the organizers in grant applications to once again get the balls rolling.
“Although the Merritt festival grounds are just outside the City in the (Thompson Nicola Regional District), the festivals held there are very much a part of Merritt – they go beyond the economic contribution of thousands of people coming to our town and spending money in our stores, and form a part of our identity,” reads the letters.
Mayor Brown went on to say how pleased she was when Bass Coast decided to first set up in Merritt in 2013, giving both residents and tourists a new form of entertainment and ideas, with carefully curated music and art that otherwise would never have been seen in Merritt.
“You even go beyond that, and contribute directly to our community’s amenities and infrastructure,” added Mayor Brown, recalling the money and volunteer hours that were donated by event staff to do maintenance and repairs on the mountain bike trails on Iron Mountain.
“Bass Coast is unique, and we have missed you in the years that COVID has taken from us. We look forward to your return – to the ideas and sensations you expose us to, to the volunteer work you do in our community, and not least the economic boost we get from over 6,000 festival goers coming to Merritt.”
In the letter to Rockin’ River organizer Becca Hess, Mayor Brown brings up the fact that country music is very much a part of Merritt’s history, as the home of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour and handprints and murals of those who have “entertained us here with three chords and the truth.
“Although we are no longer officially styled as the Country Music Capital of Canada, we very much look forward to your return, so that you, the performers, and thousands of guests can all Flourish under the Sun.”
