Music lovers can once again look forward to hearing a diverse selection of musicians during the 2019 edition of the Bow Valley Jamboree.
The annual celebration of Saskatchewan music will take place Aug. 10 at the Bow Valley Park south of Oxbow.
Gates for the festival open at 1 p.m., and the first act, Opening act Downwind will take to the stage at 2 p.m.
“Downwind is a group that has been around in the southeast for about 40 years, and they’re once again helping us out by starting off the festival,” said Lori Moncrief from the Oxbow Arts and Cultural Committee, which puts on the festival.
She noted that Downwind has said this will be their last appearance at the jamboree, but the committee hopes the group will continue to appear at Bow Valley.
Winsome Kind will perform at 3 p.m., followed by Nae Plans at 4:05 p.m., Hook & Nail at 5:15 p.m., Ginelle James at 6:30 p.m. and the Snake Oil Salesmen at 7:45 p.m.
Hook & Nail is a band from southeast Saskatchewan that came to an open mic session hosted by the committee in Oxbow. A crowd from Estevan came to hear the trio perform.
“We’re hoping for an Estevan gang to come our way, and Hook & Nail thrilled our audience at open mic,” said Moncrief. “We think the Bow Valley stage will be an even better venue for their talent.”
The Tilted Kits will perform a set at 9:15 p.m., and Sourjack at 10:30 p.m. will wrap up the festival.
Moncrief praised Christy Hook and Carol Stewart for working hard on the lineup. Their efforts started before Christmas.
“They do a lot of searching, and come up with a great group of people to entertain us,” said Moncrief.
The Tilted Kilts and Nae Plan have a lot of energy and a Celtic feel to their music.
“We know from open mic nights that people around here really enjoy fiddle music, and good energy, so we’re particularly excited about those two groups,” said Moncrief.
James is a country artist who is receiving a lot of support, and the festival organizers hope she will appeal to those who enjoy that musical genre.
Winsome Kind is a folk-pop duo that has performed across the country, The Snake Oil Salesmen is a group from southern Saskatchewan that performs rock music, and Sourjack is a rock group ideal for the late night music.
Also back for this year’s festival will be Bow Valley’s tweener performers – young up and coming musicians who take to the stage in between the featured acts and play a few songs.
“There’s a lot of excitement for them and for us when they take the stage at the jamboree,” said Moncrief.
The committee takes a look at last year’s event when planning for the current year’s festival. The things that went well will be retained, and things that weren’t as well received will be put on the back-burner.
“We’re really proud to say that we support local,” said Moncrief.
Supporting local means showing their support for the featured acts and the tweeners while backing local businesses. They use local people for their website, their photography, their publicity and other efforts.
The jamboree has also created a new working relationship with the Happy Nun Café in Forget. The café will do a ticket draw for the festival in June and July, and the jamboree will have a draw for a gift certificate at the café during the event.
There will also be signage in the Bow Valley Park promoting the event, and they will do a postcard distribution in Carnduff, Oxbow and Estevan to publicize their family activities, and in an effort to attract more people from the Energy City.
Proceeds from the jamboree will be used to support local events and artists in the Oxbow area. They host drama, visual arts and musical workshops that are brought into the schools, they host workshops for people of all ages.
This year they had a group from the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, and the Globe Theatre in Regina came in to host an event for youths. They also contributed to a performance in Oxbow by the Missoula Children’s Theatre last month. Much of the cast for the theatre’s presentation of Peter and Wendy came from the school.
The Oxbow Arts and Culture Committee paid for Don Britt to provide piano accompanist for the concert.
“We utilize the money to create more excitement an interest in arts and cultural events in the southeast,” said Moncrief.
