Republic Live announces new Music and Arts Camping Festival in Barrie, ON area
Republic Live, producers of the Boots and Hearts country music festival, have announced a new annual music and arts camping festival, taking place at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, ON, from July 24th to 26th, 2015. The festival is a collaboration between the Peterborough, ON-based Republic Live, and US promoter AC Entertainment, co-founders of the Bonnaroo Music Festival.
The festival’s name and lineup are still to be announced, but the release promises “an extraordinary lineup featuring some of the leading artists in music, the best selection of indie bands and local heroes.” The festival will include four stages, art installations, a late night forest, an on-site farmers market, and will be licensed across the venue’s 700 acre grounds.
“We’ve felt so fortunate to see Boots and Hearts grow in 3 short years to become Canada’s largest camping and country music festival, with the same aspirations for this new music and arts festival we’re excited to share more details including the name, brand and of course the line up, in the coming weeks,” Shannon McNevan, Executive Director, Republic Live said in the release. “We can see with the growth of Boots and Hearts that Canada, and in particular Ontario, has the appetite to sustain camping and music festivals and we believe that the location, being so close to the GTA, is the perfect site for a music and arts camping festival.”
The release notes that the new festival fits well within the Ontario Live Music Strategy, which was announced in January 2013 to strengthen Ontario’s position as a global leader for live music. Republic Live estimates, based on the Ontario TREIM model, that the new festival could generate approximately $13.6 million in economic impact for the province in its first year, with the opportunity to generate as much as $40 million.
In 2014, the Boots and Hearts festival generated approximately $17 million in economic impact in the Durham Region. The festival has been so successful that Republic Live is moving the 2015 Boots and Hearts festival to Burl’s Creek Event Ground, which will allow for expanded capacity and camping grounds. Boots and Hearts’ 2015 festival will take place August 6th to 9th, and will feature performances by Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line, Dallas Smith, Chad Brownlee, with more to be announced.
Music Canada