Although the weather predictions for June 30 and Canada Day were awful, the Magnificent River Rats Festival had a full audience and perfect summer days.
“The 2015 Magnificent River Rats Festival went beautifully,” said River Rats committee president Ida Edwards. “We had fabulous summer weather, a little breeze to keep the bugs down. Excellent turnout for each day and everyone who came had such a great time watching music.”
Musicians from all over Western Canada came out to perform, most of them new to the festival and very few in the same genre. Though not everybody liked every musician, there was usually at least one person up in front of the stage dancing to the music.
“I think we did an incredible job of presenting a really good show with a pretty tight budget. It was really good. I'm really pleased with it,” said Shelly Boersma, a River Rats committee member. “It was a good year.”
Overall, both Edwards and Boersma are happy with how the festival turned out.
“Right now, we could do the same festival (next year) and be very satisfied with it,” said Edwards.
That said, there are a few things that they think should be “tweaked,” such as the timing in between acts and maybe adding a few more joint activities – like the art show at the train station and miniature town at the United Church during this year’s festival.
“These are things that add to the festivities and the colour of the festival,” said Edwards. “Those activities that can entertain people and maybe share our history or what our community's about. That'd be great to have more of that.”
Plans for next year will start shortly – the committee’s wrap-up meeting will be held next week – and they’re looking for musicians.
“We're trying for the eclectic mix. We want some country in there; we want some rock and roll. We want some alternative pop,” said Edwards. “We had bagpipe alternative rock and roll this time around, that was really fun. And we had the jazz and blues, so we want the whole gamut.”
Anyone interested in performing – or who knows somebody they’d like to hear at the festival – is asked to go to their website www.riverratsfestival.com and apply.
“We wanted to find a process that was fair for everyone. So, we weren't just picking the first person who asked, to make it fair,” said Boersma. “This way it's an impartial way to chose the local artists when they apply on the website. Then, we go through and listen to YouTube videos, Soundcloud bites (or CDs).”
