Performers for fans to discover at Lake Country Folk Fest
Tickets almost sold out for the inaugural event on Saturday
The inaugural Lake Country Folk Fest on Saturday promises to be a series of “discovery” concerts.
During the 3 1/2-hour musical smorgasbord at the Lake Country Community Complex, guests can sample 10 acts on three stages while discovering Okanagan craft beer from Kettle River Brewing and buying dinner from Surf Side California Street Food and Real Pizza, said Ryan Donn, Lake Country’s cultural development co-ordinator.
Doors to Creekside Theatre and George Elliot Secondary will open at 6:30 p.m. with the music continuing until 10 p.m. After a busy sales weekend, only 40 tickets were unsold out of 400 as of Tuesday. Tickets are $30, plus fees, and available at creeksidetheatre.com or by calling 250-766-9309.
The headliners from across the province include El Mariachi Los Dorados, Lion Bear Fox and Ari Neufeld, Donn’s first guitar teacher, who is coming back to the Okanagan from Vancouver.
Lion Bear Fox is thanks to BC Touring Council’s Pacific Contact 2016, an annual showcase where concert presenters listen to 50 acts in 10-minute “live on-stage’” segments and then book them for their communities, organizations, schools, festivals and facilities. Artists, agents and managers come every March to sell their shows, book tours and network with colleagues.
“It is a wild experience but you get to watch the best of the best,” said Donn. One of the best acts was Lion Bear Fox, sometimes stylized as The Lion The Bear The Fox. Singersongwriters Christopher Arruda and Cory Woodward from Vancouver and Ryan McMahon from Ladysmith were all solo artists when they collaborated on a one-off album in 2012 and never looked back.
Each of them will perform individual 30minute sets in the GESS music room before a theatre show together.
“I’d heard about them for years from the Streaming Cafe. And then, we’ve had a mariachi show the last couple of years so we reached out to include Mexican folk in our folk festival. Everyone else is around-the-valley singer-songwriters or folk performers,” said Donn.
They include popular Jane Eamon who hasn’t performed in a couple of years. She and Donn co-hosted songwriters-in-the-round shows for five years. They will join Michael Painchaud from Lake Country and Carolyn Anele from Vernon in a similar singer-songwriter format.
“Ari Neufeld actually was the first guitar guy I met when I moved to Canada 27 years ago,” recalled Donn. “He grew up in Lake Country and was my first guitar teacher but hasn’t been back to Lake Country for a while. He’s the artist’s artist, probably the most creative guy I know.” Neufeld is the epitome of a one-man band playing a guitar, piano, banjo, ukelele, telecaster and anklets.
Donn has heard about Aidan and Mandy from Penticton, but hasn’t seen them live yet.