Hot time at Salmon Fest
2013 Toyota Salmon Festival thrills fans
The weather was hot, the field was packed and the bands were rocking at the 2013 Toyota Salmon Festival Saturday.
The weather was hot, the field was packed and the bands were rocking at the 2013 Toyota Salmon Festival Saturday.
Continuing the trend of great festival day weather, temperatures soared to 30 C as the crowd poured into Centennial Park in Grand FallsWindsor to take in the all-star lineup.
The day kicked off with the Matt Minglewood Band, followed by Canadian country-rock band Blue Rodeo.
JD and the Straight Shots then took the stage and warmed up the audience for country star Johnny Reid. Reid charmed the crowd with his stage presence and hit songs.
The Tragically Hip were up just before dusk, and the Canadian rock icons gave fans the show of a lifetime.
Frontman Gord Downie lived up to his reputation as a showman extraordinaire with his enthusiastic and eccentric performance, rocking the stage with a mix of old favourites and new jams.
By the time the headliners were ready to take over Centennial Park, the excited audience had packed the stage front for the main event.
The American rock legends, The Eagles, didn’t disappoint the crowd, kicking off the set with their hit “Witchy Woman.” The Eagles played many of their greatest hits including “Desperado,” “Take It Easy” and “Tequila Sunrise.”
The huge crowd made for a busy weekend on the roads around Grand FallsWindsor, and police were out in full force to keep an eye on traffic.
Cpl. Chad Norman of the Grand Falls-Windsor detachment said he has never seen so much traffic in the area as he did this weekend.
He said the RCMP had its local members, central traffic services unit members, and others from Deer Lake, patrolling the area.
“Friday we did get a number of complaints between Gander and Grand Falls of erratic type driving,” he said, adding police also arrested an impaired driver outside a bar.
Norman said some other arrests were made over the weekend, including at least one related to an assault. Overall, he said, police activity in the town was consistent with festival weekends in previous years.
Highway drug bust
Further west, near Birchy Lake, the RCMP stopped a vehicle for speeding on the Trans-Canada Highway.
The five men in the vehicle, who were on their way to the festival, were arrested for possession after the officer saw marijuana on one of the men’s lap, according to the news release from the RCMP.
Police searched the vehicle and found approximately 24 grams of cocaine and 192 ecstasy pills.
All five men were from the Corner Brook area.
“Four males are now facing drug related offences including possession of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking in a controlled substance, as well as criminal charges for breaching a probation order and breaching a recognizance,” according to the news release.
The men will appear in court in Corner Brook Sept. 17.