The Golden Sound Festival’s Winter Block Party is set to kick off with a show at the Civic Centre on Feb. 16 before two nights of performances on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22.
According to Willhorse bassist and Sound Fest organizer Todd Menzies, the idea for a winter version of the festival was conceived after the successes of the multi-venue summer show.
The summer festival was originally intended to be outdoors but had to be moved to a few venues at the last minute. As it turns out, switching venues had a major silver lining to it.
“[The winter festival was created] because the summer went so well,” Menzies explained.
“We had to change our plan but it was a blessing and a curse, it made for a lot more work but it turned out way better than we could have imagined. Once we did it we saw the response from locals, businesses and everyone that wanted to get on board and wanted to be involved and it went from there.”
Van Damsel will open for Bear Mountain at the Civic Centre for the Sound Festival’s pre-show on Feb. 16. Wild Son will perform at Peaks Grill on Feb. 21 to launch the main weekend of the festival on Feb. 21. Rockwater Grill and Bar, The Golden Taps and Riverhouse Tavern will host artists such as The Gay Nineties, Miesha and the Spanks and Disasterman the following night as part of the main night of the festival on Feb. 22. An all ages show is also in the works with further details on that show to be made available shortly.
The summer festival has already been scheduled for Aug. 23 and organizers are hoping to figure out an outdoor venue in town to host that event. Eventually, Menzies would like to see the festival grow even further.
“In the big picture we do want to have it as a whole weekend and we do want to have an outdoor stage,” Menzies said. “We don’t know where that will be yet but we’d like to have it somewhere in town.”
Sound festival bracelets are available from Plain Wayne and Jane or online at goldensoundfestival.com. Bracelets are $30 from now until Feb. 17 and $40 afterwards. The bracelet is good for a free entry to all shows on Feb. 21 and 22. There will be a shuttle from Kicking Horse for ticket holders who live or are staying in town.
Tickets for the Bear Mountain show are $15 in advance or $25 at the door, with bracelet holders paying $15 at the door. Bracelet holders are also eligible for discounts at local businesses such as Plain Wayne and Jane and Whitetooth Bistro among others.
For more information on the festival, check out goldensoundfestival.com or facebook.com/GoldenSoundFestival.
