Blast at the beach
Islanders and visitors alike enjoying the new, four-day Cavendish Beach Music Festival
It takes more than a little rain to keep country music fans away from Cavendish.
Concertgoers’ spirits weren’t dampened by some rainfall that delayed Friday’s opening of the
2018 Cavendish Beach Music Festival. The lineup was able to continue as scheduled with performances by Chase Rice and Brett Eldredge capping off the evening.
Attendees were also in a great mood at the festival Saturday afternoon for the second day of the concert series featuring country
music artists like Terri Clark, Dallas Smith and Chris Young.
Many traveled to take in the concert for the first time, like twins Hannah and Haylee Porter.
“We got a weekend bracelet,” Hannah said, adding they traveled from Truro, N.S. with their friend Olivia Putnam, who’ been to the festival six times.
The Porters weren’t the only twins to travel from Nova Scotia to P.E.I.
Erin and Erica Burke traveled from their home province four times to take in the Cavendish Beach Music Festival. Both excited to see the Sunday night headliner Luke Bryan.
Tickets were sold out for Sunday’s show.
Many Island residents were in the audience that quickly filled up the front stage area by midafternoon Saturday.
Recently married couple Jeff and Amy Martin decided to attend the 2018 event.
“It is exciting,” Amy said. Jeff agreed, adding, “It’s not part of the honeymoon.”
Some in attendance said the venue was set up better than previous years, while lineups for drinks or concessions seemed shorter and everyone had more space.
Bryce Doiron, who lives in North Rustico, has been to the concert several times before, but only came out for one day this year to see Chris Young.
Doiron was also fond of the new setup, saying there wasn’t a large cut off area for consuming alcohol. The P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission approved an expanded licensed area for this year’s festival.
“It is a lot less narrow getting to the stage. There is a lot more space for people,” Doiron said, adding he was pleased with Chris Young perforce on Saturday.
“It was fantastic. He put on a great show, he is a great performer with awesome tunes.”
His drive to North Rustico was a little longer than usual with the concert traffic, but Doiron embraced it, pumping music from his car for the many concertgoers returning to their campsites after Saturday’s festivities.
While people living near the Cavendish area enjoy the concert, others use the festival as a welcome excuse to visit P.E.I.
Thandi Nagel and her husband Jesse traveled with friends from Nova Scotia to see the concert series for the first time.
“My sister is here, so this is a good excuse to visit her,” she said.
The Cavendish Beach Music festival wraps up today. This year, a fourth day was added and features performances starting at 4 p.m. from New City, Broods, Dan + Shay and headliner Shawn Mendes.