After five years of the Hootstock Festival being hosted at the old schoolhouse in Bradley Creek, the organizers have decided to bring it to the Forest Grove Community Hall.
“The community grounds in Forest Grove have quite a bit more capacity and a lot more camping, a lot more room there and a lot more parking,” said Steve Roy, one of the organizers. “We’re super excited because it’s a whole new venue to decorate and all that.”
Roy said the new site is pretty cool but may not capture the music of the previous venue. However, the capacity and the ability to have three stages instead of two make up for it.
“We’re going to have another stage inside the hall because we rented the whole hall. So if the weather turns into a big shit there won’t be a panic situation; it will be like, “oh, we will just move into the hall” and shuffle the line-ups a bit,” said Roy.
The hall will also hold roughly 250 people and allow for the possibility of new sets and artist collaborations.
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Roy and Astrid Hensey, the two organizers and founders of Momentum Productions – a music promoting agency serving the South Cariboo, have held many shows at the Community Hall in the past.
The venue also has wheelchair-accessible washrooms and a commercial kitchen. The site also allows for RV and tent camping.
Roy said he is particularly happy about the kitchen situation.
“We serve over 400 meals to our volunteers and our performers every time so it’s a big thing for us because I had to build a kitchen at the other site to serve 400 meals in three days. It’s a nice thing to have a commercial kitchen there. It makes the vendors happy too if they have a better place to park as well.”
The venue also has four washrooms inside and two outside (all wheelchair-accessible) and a couple of outhouses. There is also water on site, unlike the old schoolhouse site, allowing spectators to get water from the taps.
There are roughly 10-12 camping spots at the site. The RV camping fees are $10 for the night and go straight to the community club. Camping with a tent costs 5$ for the weekend.
Roy and Hensey are also looking for food and wares vendors. Any vendors interested in working with them, they can reach them at hootstockfest@gmail.com.
brendan.jure@100milefreepress.net
