In August of 2019, Merrittonians and country music fans alike found out that one of the biggest players in the game would be gracing our presence.
Australian superstar Keith Urban was named as the headliner for the 2020 iteration of Rockin’ River Fest, leading a bevy of household names among the country music community.
Chris Janson. Jon Pardi. Randy Houser. Madeline Merlo. A remarkable lineup, shot down in late April due to COVID-19.
“We are reaching out to you to announce that the Rockin’ River Music Fest will not be able take place this summer, in accordance with the latest government guidelines,” they announced. “We are shifting our focus to bringing you the best show ever in 2021 for our usual BC Day long weekend on July 29th – August 1st, 2021. Together, we will make it one to remember!”
2019 saw another global superstar take to the stage as a headliner. Jason Aldean performed for around 37,000 fans, which also featured the likes of Old Dominion, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris, Kane Brown, and Brett Kissel.
Urban was named as the 2020 headliner at the finale of the 2019 festival, with Kenny Hess taking the stage to announce the big news.
Hess started the festival eleven years ago in Mission, and has seen it grow every year since to see some of the biggest acts in the biz. It moved from the Mission Raceway to Merritt in 2015, in a change made by Hess.
Since then, the festival has been going on annually along the Coldwater River, as a family-owned operation on the BC Day weekend.
Through the years, the stage has seen the likes of Rascal Flats, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Blue Rodeo, Big and Rich, Johnny Reid, Sam Hunt, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, and many more.
Rockin’ River moved to Merritt four years after the departure of the Merritt Mountain Music Fest, filling a void left in a town that calls itself the ‘Country Music Capital of Canada.’ The move from Mission to the former Mountain Music site effectively quadrupled the amount of attendees the festival could accommodate.
Hess, the primary organizer of the event, saw plenty of potential in the site: in Mountain Music Fest’s glory days, it set a record attendance of 148,000 people in 2005.
2017 saw Rockin’ River Fest nominated for country music festival of the year by the Canadian Country Music Association.
Though Urban will not be back for the 2021 lineup, Hess has hopes that he may be able to return in 2022. He said that as soon as Provincial health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry gives the green light to put on the 2021 festival, Hess and his team will be looking to string together a lineup that was as powerful as this year’s was set to be.
Next year’s event is also tentatively scheduled for the BC Day long weekend.
