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Music Festival

Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival bucks the trend and survives

SALMON ARM - We’ve got Joni Mitchell to thank for the words ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’ but the community of Salmon Arm gets the credit for acting on that epiphany before it was too late. Six months ago, things were uncertain for the Roots and Blues Festival. A number of...

Penticton mayor disappointed Boonstock not returning

PENTICTON - Penticton mayor Andrew Jakubeit is disappointed by the announcement Boonstock will not be returning to Penticton in 2015. “It is disappointing news. We had seven thousand people from outside our region getting exposed to our beautiful area that won’t be coming back again,” Jakubeit says in an email on Friday, March 27. The...

Boonstock will not return to Penticton

PENTICTON – The controversial Boonstock music festival will not be back in the South Okanagan this summer. In a posting on its Facebook page, Boonstock Productions has announced it will not be returning to Penticton in 2015. Macklemore headlined the first and only Penticton Boonstock music festival on the August long weekend last summer. There...

Dierks Bentley headlining in Merritt

MERRITT - Country star Dierks Bentley is the first big act to sign up for Riverfest 2015 in Merritt. Bentley recently released his eighth album, Riser, featuring hit singles I Hold On and Drunk On A Plane. The award-winning star is the first act signed to the music festival, which will run July 30 through...

What the police expense report for Boonstock looks like

PENTICTON - The police expense report from the Boonstock festival weekend in August has been made public and reveals hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime, car cleaning services and general supplies. The police report, released by the provincial government Monday, outlines the $252,715 in policing costs—both anticipated and unexpected—for the August long weekend when over...

Still no RCMP invoice for Boonstock

PENTICTON - It’s been almost three months since Boonstock weekend and festival organizers still have not received a copy of the RCMP expense report, which outlines additional costs incurred over the four-day festival. Forty officers were scheduled to work the festival weekend and racked up a $200,000 bill paid for by Boonstock. But in September,...

Bad news for Roots and Blues Music Fest

SALMON ARM - A summer music festival that has become synonymous with the City of Salmon Arm is in financial peril, and next year’s event hangs in the balance. The popular Roots and Blues Festival has been a staple of summer music in the Shuswap for 22 years, but currently doesn’t have enough money to...

Boonstock says RCMP accounting is ‘speculation’

PENTICTON - Boonstock organizers say they received a bill from the provincial government three-and-a-half times more than the additional $50,000 RCMP say is owed for extra costs incurred over the festival weekend last month. The Ministry of Justice sent an invoice to Boonstock organizers with a “total owing” of nearly $177,000, and gave them 30...

RCMP say Boonstock needs to reimburse government for additional police costs

PENTICTON - RCMP say Boonstock organizers need to reimburse the provincial government for additional police officers required during the festival weekend, after private security failed to provide adequate resources. The two final days of the festival required additional personnel since RCMP had to shift their focus to security and public safety. A new cost analysis...

Boonstock survey: A new location, a new experience

PENTICTON - They came, they saw, they got dirty and partied. Now Boonstock wants to hear from you how it went. Boonstock Music and Arts Festival organizers today released an online survey for festival attendees to provide feedback. The survey was posted on Boonstock’s official Facebook page and people are already posting comments about how to...

Councillor says Boonstock for “head-banging druggies”

PENTICTON - City Coun. Katie Robinson made an unexpected comment about Boonstock at last night’s council meeting, causing gallery members to gasp and other councillors to hold their heads in their hands. “I’m not a head-banging druggie, so I wasn’t interested in it whatsoever,” Robinson said of the festival. Robinson has been outspoken about her...

Tent Graveyard: The aftermath of Boonstock

PENTICTON - The Boonstock grounds that held over 8,000 people this weekend is now littered with tents, lawn chairs, beer cans and confetti, leaving crews with a lot of work on their hands. The festival received mainly positive reviews about performances and artists that took the stage this weekend — even headliner Macklemore asked to be...

IN PHOTOS: Boonstock After Dark

PENTICTON - The Boonstock grounds come alive at night with people dressed in costume, facepaint and dust. With hands in the air, they dance frantically and without a care to the music that literally shakes the ground and moves through your body from your feet on up through your limbs.  Here's a look at some...

IN PHOTOS: Boonstock

PENTICTON - The first full day of Boonstock is over and it doesn't seem like the dust has gotten to too many concert-goers. WIth bandanas over their faces, people continued to dance, jam and party as bands and DJs tore up the stages last night. The campsite is full of people, some who've set up...

What you need to know if you’re coming to Boonstock

PENTICTON - If you’re heading out to Penticton this weekend for the Boonstock Music and Arts Festival you may have some questions about the grounds, booze, and what to do in town while giving your liver and ears a break. Here’s the low-down: ACCESS The festival grounds can only be accessed from the North side...

Penticton Indian Band reinstates support for Boonstock

PENTICTON - The Penticton Indian Band has retracted a statement that was accidentally released earlier today withdrawing their support for Boonstock Music and Arts Festival this weekend. Chief Jonathan Kruger said organizers have now met all the band's requirements and they will continue to support the festival. Organizers had not yet provided the $200,000 bill...

Council keeps neutral stance about Boonstock

PENTICTON - City Council remains neutral about endorsing Boonstock after a letter was sent by the Chamber of Commerce asking council to reconsider its decision. The Chamber has been an enthusiastic supporter of the music festival and said it’s good business to get behind a new business operation of this size. Campbell Watt, Chamber president...

Volunteers still needed for Boonstock

PENTICTON - Boonstock is still looking for volunteers to help out during the four-day festival coming to Penticton in just a few weeks. Organizers hope to add another 150 names to their list of almost 500 volunteers already registered to lend to hand, including nurses, doctors, teachers and students. Anyone is welcome to sign up,...

Boonstock releases four-day concert schedule

PENTICTON - The four-day performance schedule for Boonstock has been released, letting concertgoers know which stage their favourite bands will be performing on. Here is a breakdown of the schedule, if you haven’t seen it on Boonstock’s website already: Kicking things off on Thursday, July 31 at the Kalamalka Stage, will be performances by Candyland,...

‘Everything’s up to chance’ with Boonstock: RCMP

PENTICTON - Police continue to have serious concerns about a lack of security at Boonstock but are powerless to intervene. Add Penticton RCMP to the list of organizations kept in the dark about festival plans, now only three weeks away. Staff Sgt. Kurt Lozinski, the officer in charge of RCMP involvement in the festival, says...

ARCHER: Hey Boonstock, just tell us what’s going on

Hey kids! Boonstock is only three weeks away! Nothing but fun and sun and music and culture and stuff! It’s all good all the time! Just please don’t look behind the curtain. I know I’ll be accused of being the grumpy old parent shushing the teenagers on their three-day sleepover, but I wish I didn’t...

Boonstock in doubt as security firm backs out

PENTICTON - Boonstock faces a major setback after the private security company hired to work the festival weekend backed out of the deal. International Crowd Management terminated its agreement with Boonstock organizers, just one month before the festival comes to Penticton on August long weekend. There have been security and safety concerns about the festival...