Long Day’s Night Music Festival brings exciting line-up of performers to Swift Current
A musical celebration of the summer solstice will take place under a big top tent in Swift Current.
The Long Day’s Night Music Festival will feature three nights of top-notch entertainment from June 20-22.
Keely Williams, the festival assistant with Long Day’s Night and Windscape Kite Festival, is excited about this year’s musical line-up.
“It’s going to be great,” she said. “We’ve got a whole bunch of new groups that we’ve not had before, but that we’ve been watching and being on our radar and we’re excited to finally bring them in.”
The performers will be a real showcase of the variety and talent available on the Canadian live music scene. The intention of the festival organizers is to ensure that attendees will have a great experience.
“We do look for someone who’s kind of a party band and loud enough to keep up with the crowd, and we try to get a variety of different styles of music,” she said.
The Long Day’s Night Music Festival will kick off on June 20 with Terra Lightfoot, a JUNO nominated roots rocker from Hamilton, Ontario. She has performed internationally and shared the stage with artists such as Gordon Lightfoot, Blue Rodeo, Ron Sexsmith and Willie Nelson. Her latest album Healing Power was released in October 2023.
The Friday night show on June 21 will open with Saskatoon band The Radiant, known for providing a captivating show experience. Their 2023 EP Logical Steps earned them a Saskatchewan Music Award nomination for rock artist of the year.
The headliner for the June 21 show is the four-piece roots/rock Toronto band The Commoners. They will provide a Southern-style rock experience with tons of energy. Their highly anticipated third album Restless is scheduled to be released on the day of their performance at the Long Day’s Night Music Festival.
The Saturday night show on June 22 will be a big and loud party featuring four different bands.
“It’s the most we’ve ever had with the three full bands and then a pep band playing the pre-show,” Williams said. “We’ve had three bands before in one night, but never four. And it’s never run as long either. So it’s going to be a big bash for us. It is the 20th year of Long Day’s Night. So it’s a bit of a birthday party.”
The final night of this year’s Long Day’s Night will kick off with a preshow performance by the 620 CKRM Saskatchewan Roughrider Pep Band. They will also be performing earlier in the day at the Windscape Kite Festival and then be back in the evening.
“They’ll be in the tent, probably interacting with the audience a bit and wandering around,” she said. “They’re doing it as a fundraiser so that they can go to the Grey Cup this year.”
The next group on stage will be the Regina band Lyssa and the Try-Tones. Their groovy music with powerhouse vocals sounds like a group from out of 1970’s Detroit. They were the show opener at last year’s Regina concert by the legendary group Boney M.
The headliner at the June 22 show will be the funky band sounds of Winnipeg’s Dirty Catfish Brass Band. Their music pays tribute to the great bass brands from New Orleans with a sound that delights audiences and gets them dancing.
A new addition to this year’s Long Day’s Night is an after-party celebration featuring popular Swift Current band Ribrash. The four-member band will be covering decades of rock, pop, and country hits. All Saturday night ticket holders will get free access to their performance.
The Long Day’s Night Music Festival takes place on Swift Current’s south side at Marston Street and 11th Avenue SW in conjunction with the Windscape Kite Festival. Williams is glad that the long association between these two festivals are continuing.
“A lot of our planning and funding and volunteers are kind of tied together,” she said. “We use the same infrastructure. We use the same festival site. We have volunteers that come help set up for both. We also use Long Day’s Night as sort of a thank-you gift to our partners and funders and sponsors as well. They can get tickets and it’s just really great to be able to continue sharing another form of art on the festival site at the same time.”
Tickets for each night of the music festival as well as three-night festival passes are available at the Swift Current Pharmasave or online through the Long Day’s Night Music Festival website at www. longdaysnight.ca