Everyone involved in the Beaumont Blues and Roots Festival is crossing their guitar-strumming fingers that cloudy skies won’t bring rain this weekend southeast of Edmonton.
“It’s been a wet couple days but we’re getting everything pulled together and we’re almost ready to rock,” said festival executive director Jeremy Kornel.
Kornel said even if the skies open up, the three-day event will go ahead as planned.
“The weather is always a question mark but we go rain or shine and everybody has a great time even when it’s raining,” he said. “The last seven years we’ve never had to cancel a performance due to weather.”
But he still urges music fans to pack rain gear. Tarps and umbrellas are allowed inside the grounds at Four Seasons Park.
Now in its 12th year, pre-event ticket sales for the festival have been strong, according to Kornel.
Headlining the main stage Friday will be The Watchmen and Matthew Good. Saturday’s lineup includes Bif Naked and Big Wreck.
“The first year we had a few hundred people in a little field just west of Beaumont,” Kornel said. “We had a great time with a small little crowd. It was very intimate and every year we’ve consistently grown and grown.”
Daily attendance in 2018 was around 2,500. Organizers are hoping to break 3,000 festivalgoers per day this year, including music fans living in homes surrounding the festival.
“Neighbors have been great over the last few years. We go around and we give them all free tickets if they back right on the park, so we want them to join the party, not sit at home.”
Gates open at 4 p.m. Friday with the music pumping out around 5 p.m. Weekend passes cost $159 at the gate and kids under 12 are free with a paying adult.
