ESTEVAN — The date is set, the bands are invited, and it's time to get the tickets.
The Estevan Downtown Business Association's third street dance, featuring Harreson James Band and Estevan Jesse Gibson's Long Live the Glory as the opening act, is slated for July 22.
The big party will once again take place in the 1100 block of Fourth Street and the Tower Café parking lot, which will be turned into one big dance floor for the night. Security and police will ensure the public's safety during the event. Food and drinks will be available in the area.
Robert Godfrey with Lemon Wedge Marketing, which is a part of the DBA, said that things are coming together really well for the street dance. Everything will be pretty similar to previous events; except they hope to grow it much bigger and are trying to turn it into a glow party.
"We're really happy to have pretty much everything in place. All the hard work is done. Basically, now we're just focused on selling some tickets, and getting people ready to be a part of the biggest party in the city on July 22," Godfrey said.
"We're calling the event a glow party, so we want to encourage everyone to wear your bright outfits, if you've got some glow sticks, put them on. We really want to show the glow, and for it to really be nice and bright and exciting this year.
"Our staging and lighting companies are going to be putting together a bit of a light show as well," Godfrey added.
"And we want this to be our biggest one ever."
When it came to bands, the DBA wanted to make the night fun and entertaining, while also showcasing some local and Saskatchewan talent.
"We had a focus on showcasing Saskatchewan talent, so we contacted some people in the Saskatchewan music industry and asked for some names of different up-and-coming acts that do a really good job. And one of the ones that were suggested to us was the Harreson James. Harreson performed at the Grey Cup festival a number of times last year to rave reviews, so we were really excited to be put in touch with Harreson," Godfrey shared.
"He has a really unique act, it is a multi-genre performance with a bit of country, a bit of rock, some pop as well. So, it caters to a number of different audiences. He also has a great band that accompanies him, and we thought it would be a perfect fit for this event."
The DBA was also excited to get a talented local musician Gibson and his band to join them as an opening act.
"We're really looking forward to being able to showcase them," Godfrey said. "Long Live the Glory has performed at the telethon the past couple of years, they've done performances for the humane society's Whiskers and Wine Gala. They also performed at a couple of Bruins games this year, and they do an amazing job. So we've got two really good acts. They're both from Saskatchewan and it's really exciting to have Long Live the Glory with Jesse being born and raised in Estevan."
He also noted that in all years that they've organized the event, they had no incidents, and are grateful to the community for keeping it safe for everyone.
"We want to thank the community for keeping this fun," Godfrey said.
He added that businesses that would like to get involved as sponsors can reach out to DBA through Lemon Wedge Marketing at 306-461-5374.
"If there's any businesses that want to get involved this year, we're really happy to offer some sponsorship. It will be a great way to promote your business, show your support of the downtown business association, and have a captive audience to show off your business or products," Godfrey said.
The event capacity is 2,000 people, and the organizers hope to see the crowd numbers getting closer to that mark. The event will start at 9 p.m. and will go until 2 a.m. with the last call at 1:30 a.m.
Advance tickets are $25 and are available at Henders Drugs. They will be $35 at the door.
