The much-anticipated Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival is just around the corner, and this year it features top-notch headliners such as Western Canada's own k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang.
On Aug. 13 at Deer Lake Park in neighbouring Burnaby, from 2 to 10 p.m., international staples in the blues, rock, alternative and country scenes will alight the stage for the event hosted by both the City of Burnaby and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.
"I think the lineup we have, and the headliners k.d. lang and John Mayall, is phenomenal," said JulieAnne Slade, the Shadbolt's special events officer. "We haven't always had a list in terms of performers featuring a Canadian female artist who sang at the Olympics."
Besides the two major headliners, the festival will showcase Ireland's Imelda May; Luke Doucet, who's toured with Sarah McLachlan on the Lillith Fair circuit; Matt Anderson, a grassroots performer from New Brunswick; The Secret Sisters, who recorded in Nashville at the famous Blackbird studios; Victoria, B.C.'s own Current Swell; and Ben Rodgers and the Black Oats, a four-piece country/Americana band.
Apart from the influx of talent from across the nation and the globe, the park itself will offer other forms of entertainment as well for the whole family - including a food fair, artisan market and kids' arts activity zone.
"There will be an area called 'Art's Home'," Slade said. "Art is the mascot for the Shadbolt."
The kids' zone is open from 3: 30 to 7: 30 p.m., and kids will have the opportunity to make their very own cardboard guitars.
"We do it every year," she said. "Kids love it."
Art's Home will also feature a few perform-ances from the local group Pangaea Arts, which is a street theatre storytelling act, according to Slade.
The artisan market will feature a vast array of handmade crafts, often wearable, such as jewelry, ceramics, arts glass, exotic henna tattoos, carvings made from leaves, artisan honey and much more.
"There will be a variety of festival food options, but that hasn't been released yet," Slade noted. "Watch out for the pullout on the website that will list the options soon."
Parking in the vicinity is limited, and festival-goers are encouraged to use alternate forms of transportation or ride the free Lynch Bus Lines shuttle from BCIT.
There's also a road closure notice from noon until 10: 30 p.m. that will be implemented by the RCMP on Deer Lake Avenue, between Sperling Avenue and Century Park Way. Note that bicycles will not be permitted in the park, but racks will be set up near both gates.
"The festival organizers highly recommend reading through the guidelines to avoid disappointment and not cause an inconvenience," Slade told the Burnaby NOW.
Such rules include a ban on professional cameras (defined as ones with a detachable lens), umbrellas, non-assistance animals, alcoholic or canned drinks.
Slade stressed that reading the guidelines online beforehand will prevent any misunderstanding about what's allowed through the gates and what's not.
The two gates (main and west) both open at 1 p.m. The main gate closes at 9 p.m., and the west gate will close at 6 p.m. for allowing entrance.
For all information and details about gate guidelines to seating, check out www.burnabyluesfestival. com/plan_2011.htm.
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