Three renowned Canadian acts have been booked for the Sturgis North Music Festival and Motorcycle Rally, now officially set for the MotoPlex Speedway and Event Park in Spallumcheen July 18-22.
Sturgis North president Ray Sasseville said The Guess Who, The Stampeders and Nick Gilder and Sweeney Todd have been confirmed for the festival, as have veteran American rockers the Edgar Winter Band.
“We’re probably going to have two headliners each night, one starting 7:30, the other at 9:30 or 10, and the shows end at midnight,” said Sasseville. “We’ll look at, maybe on the Friday and Saturday, having three major acts at 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.”
Bands from all across Western Canada will start playing on the MotoPlex stage at 1 p.m. each day.
After back-and-forth negotiations, Sturgis North and the speedway reached a deal to host the second event.
Last year’s inaugural festival was held in Salmon Arm at two locations.
“Everything is signed, we’ve done the initial agreement,” said Bob Newcombe, speedway manager. “Everything they need is there to pull the whole thing off. The track will be working with all of the governing agencies and police to work together to make this a successful event.”
The festival will mainly feature rock-and-roll acts and motorcycles – a motorcycle trade show and business exposition is also part of the event – but there could be a family element as well.
Negotiations are underway with West Coast Amusements – a fixture every year at the Interior Provincial Exhibition in Armstrong – to set up at the speedway during the event.
Camping tickets for the Sturgis North festival were expected to be on sale by today, and event tickets go on sale late next week.
Tickets are available through the organization’s website, www.sturgisnorth.com.
