At the very first Magnificent River Rats Festival, held all the way back on Canada Day in 1996, rumour has it there was no formal admission fee.
On June 30, the first day of this year's festival, concert organizers will throw back to this form of payment for entertainment – asking for donations rather than charging a ticket fee – but it won’t be the only historical element on display.
With the recent logo redesign, it seemed pertinent to remind attendees of the long-standing name of the storied ‘river rats’ and their connection to Athabasca’s history, said festival executive director and past performer Ida Edwards.
“We’re incorporating a bit of the history of the ‘Magnificent River Rats’ name,” she said. “The festival is named after the voyageurs who worked for either Hudson’s Bay Company or North West Company when the fur trade was in its heyday.”
After doing some research, founding members of the music festival decided to name it after the “river rats” of Canadian lore.
At one point in time, Athabasca Landing was the largest in-land boat and ship building port in Canada, Edwards said. This was during the golden age of the fur trappers, as well as the Klondike days of the 1890s when hopeful prospectors were eager to head to the Yukon and strike it rich on a vein of gold.
“These guys were very characteristic in their style of dress and how they presented themselves,” Edwards said. “They were kind of like the frontiersmen of the time, much like our lumberjacks and cowboys became iconic images, too.”
In his book “Caesars of the Wilderness,” Canadian historian Peter C. Newman made reference to these voyageurs, calling them “a remarkable ragbag of magnificent riverrats,” noting that “Unsung, unlettered and uncouth, the early fur-trade voyageurs gave substance to the unformed notion of Canada as a transcontinental state.”
In naming the festival after these “river rats,” the original organizers were paying homage to the regional culture.
“The river has played a big part in voyageur history,” Edwards said. “I think it’s a cultural connection of the roots (that founded) this community, and the fact that it was on the frontier edge of civilization for so long. I think we have a bit of that still in our psyche.”
It is a history connected to nature, one that locals continue to celebrate every time they launch a boat into the river or traverse along one of the many trails in town, Edwards said.
“To me, it’s a link of how this community was built.”
The River Rats festivities will run from June 30 to July 1.
Danny Hooper, one of the original performers in 1996, will take to the Athabasca Riverfront Stage, as well Fred Penner, Captain Tracer, Sentimental Gentleman and other local and regional performers.
“We’re celebrating a lot of Alberta talent in our line-up,” Edwards said. “The Royal Canadian Legion is the beer garden crew, and the Rotary Club is feeding everyone in the beer gardens.”
Tickets for July 1 are $25 for adults, $15 for students ages 12-17 and seniors 65 years old and up. Children 11 and under are free.
Families of four can also purchase a family pass for $60, which covers two adults and two students. Extra family members who are students can pay $10 each.
