OXBOW — The 15th edition of the Bow Valley Jamboree featured lots of great music and entertainment for the audience.
An estimated crowd of 1,000 people attended the music festival Aug. 9 at the Bow Valley Park south of Oxbow. Brad Mayer with the Oxbow Arts and Cultural Committee, which hosted the jamboree, said it was a great event, and he referred to the audience, the bands and volunteers as "spectacular".
The crowd is believed to be the largest for the jamboree. Mayer noted they've had as many as 900 in the past. He added he saw lots of big smiles throughout the event.
The festival kicked off with a performance by southeast bagpipe group Kilted Wind, who also took to the stage midway through the show. The Ugly Strippers out of Oxbow was the next group to entertain the crowd.
Other performers included Oscar's Hollow, Karissa Hoffart, Tyler Del Pino and the Brasstronauts, Ten Mile High and featured act Snake Oil.
"We usually get different bands from year to year," said Mayer. "We try to mix it up and share."
Event organizers want to deliver a mixture of pop, country and rock music to appease to different musical tastes, he said. And there's a blend of groups from the southeast and performers from outside the region.
"We had absolutely great performers all day long," said Mayer.
People were up dancing throughout the event as well.
The weather was a concern prior to the event, but Mayer said the rain held off and it didn't deter the spectators from attending. The plan was to proceed regardless of rain.
The biggest issue related to the weather came in the evening of Aug. 7, when a tent was knocked down during a thunderstorm.
"A great team of volunteers all came running to help us patch and rebuild and get it fixed up again," said Mayer.
He estimated 15 people were involved in getting the tent set up the first time Aug. 6, and 15 more helped out again after the storm.
The jamboree also featured children's activities with bouncy castles, photo booths, face painting and more. Vendors and food trucks were at the site. Selfie stations were a hit, he said.
"It had a feeling like you were in a big-city festival, right here in Oxbow," said Mayer.
