Roots and Blues is taking music on the road in the second year of Routes and Blues, a program to introduce fans to the beautiful Shuswap, fine food and excellent music.
Very popular in its debut year, the program will begin in the Kingfisher community.
Join an interpretive hike at Enderby Cliffs Provincial Park, get refuelled by a community-prepared meal and start dancing to the rocking world/jazz/funk sounds and vigorous grooves of Earthbound.
Next stop on the outreach map is Mara. Wind your way through the Shuswap River valley during the afternoon hike, enjoy a meal at the community hall and make sure you take your dancing shoes for the concert of the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra.
Spend the third day in Seymour Arm and its surroundings at the north end of the Shuswap. Visit the beautiful Albas Falls during an interpretive hike, fill your stomach before the Shuffle Demons and the six-piece Cuban band Septeto Santiaguero start playing their tunes at the Don Fink Memorial Park.
The fourth route will travel through Blind Bay. Soak in the scenic views and interesting stories of the western arm of Shuswap Lake during the Blind Bay Lookout Trail hike. Enjoy a community-prepared meal, put your feet up and listen to Buckman Coe’s intensive storytelling.
The community of Squilax is on the agenda for the fifth day of Routes & Blues.
Join the interpretive hike through Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park in the afternoon, enjoy local aboriginal cuisine and end the day with Rez Bluez – Murray Porter and Friends.
The sixth location is Malakwa and surroundings.
Hear many stories while hiking the Gorge Creek Loop Trail, satisfy your hunger with a community prepared meal, followed by the uplifting sounds of Watasun in concert.
The last two events take place in Salmon Arm; watch SiriusXM Live on the Lake Satellite performances featuring the Shuffle Demons and Shred Kelly from the top of a houseboat at Canoe Beach, Herald’s Park and the Salmon Arm wharf.
Pick up a Routes & Blues discovery packet and embark on a self-guided nature walk at the bird sanctuary. Stay tuned for the Wednesday On the Wharf concert featuring the funky Septeto Santiaguero.
The final day consists of a music crawl through downtown Salmon Arm restaurants and pubs at your own pace and musical interest.
This year’s festival road trip was organized by Brigitte Haberle and Yvonne Adriaans, two interns from an international leisure management program in the Netherlands.
Brigitte Haberle has one more year to obtain her bachelor’s degree and says working at the festival office has only confirmed her career choice.
“I really love the event sector in general, and I think music is a great way to express feelings and thoughts,” she says, pointing out she also enjoys the trust and backing festival organizers have shown her and Adriaans.
“We’re in charge of Routes and Blues; it’s all in our hands, wow,” she says with enthusiasm. “I think it’s such a neat opportunity for students like me to do it here; they give you so much responsibility, options and freedom to work. It’s not ‘go get me a coffee please, go copy this.’”
Adriaans concurs, even though she says the early days of the internship, which began in March, were bit nerve-wracking
“I have done a couple of internships before, but never with the same responsibility,” she says. “It’s cool to think about new things.”
One of those cool, new things the students are working on is a passport, a small booklet with maps of the Routes and Blues communities, stamps and a schedule of things to do. Passport holders will be encouraged to collect stamps for a contest that involves having the most stamps in a book.
Also included are descriptions of each hike, the meal and the music.
