There will be a North Island Music Festival this year instead of the annual Hyde Creek Music Festival.
Gate House Theatre president Gord Oppen, who was the organizer of the previous two Hyde Creek Music Festivals, noted the reason for the change of venue was simply due to the Hyde Creek Recreation Society voting not to host it this year. “Simultaneously, the township of Port McNeill and its councillors expressed a high degree of interest in hosting something similar.”
Oppen added the Hyde Creek Music Festival hasn’t officially been moved to Port McNeill for good, this is simply a new undertaking. “The Gate House Theatre is happy to host it, sponsor it, deliver it and administer it in Port McNeill.”
Port McNeill council voted unanimously in favour of holding the North Island Music Festival at the “Big Burl” baseball field on Aug. 28 from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
This year, the North Island Music Festival will feature a big investment in the Kid’s Zone area with plenty of exciting activities, Devil’s Bath Brewery’s craft beer will be available for purchase as well as other beer and wine cooler options, every attendee of the music festival is being encouraged to bring their own seating, there will be prizes from local businesses being auctioned off, crafts for sale, food vendors, a 50/50 ticket draw, celebrity dunk tank entertainment, and the best part of all, kids under 12 can attend for free with an adult.
“We have engineered all aspects of the festival to acknowledge it could be cancelled based on current health orders,” stated Oppen. “The Eventbrite ticket site allows us to provide everybody with a refund.”
He added the objective of the festival is to provide “a family-friendly, covid-compliant opportunity for the North Island communities to begin to knit themselves back together. We’ve sensed a strong appetite for people to get out and share an afternoon in the park with their neighbours and community members. It is also being held to help raise funds to sustain the Gate House Theatre so that it can continue to serve our young adults and families well into the future.”
Volunteers are still needed, contact info.northislandmusicfest@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer your time towards helping the festival run smoothly.
Tickets are $20 at Eventbrite, which you can find online at www.northislandmusicfest.ca
ANNOUNCED LINEUP
Wine N’ Dine
SuperSauce
Curl
Jekyll N’ Hyde
Emma Garriott
DJ Tantro
Spitefire
New Blackfish Sound
Heart Singer
Cody Woelfle
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editor@northislandgazette.com
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