The hills came alive with the sounds of music. So did the river, the lake, the streets, the pubs . . .
A fourth entry in Central Alberta’s concert scene has created a music lover’s paradise in and around Red Deer, starting and ending with Jazz at the Lake, which opened at Sylvan Lake on Thursday evening and finished with a Farewell Jam session on Sunday evening.
In between, the Central Music Festival set up in a natural amphitheatre just north of the city from Friday to Sunday, the third-annual Fiestaval Latin Festival took over two blocks of Ross Street on Saturday and the Daines Ranch hosted its first ever Texas Connection festival from Friday through Sunday.
Texas Connection organizer Adam Daines and his cousin, singing cowboy Denver Daines, are flush with the success of their new show, even though it didn’t attract a huge crowd of people.
The music was awesome and the performers are getting ready to try again next year, certain that more people will come as they learn more about Texas music, which straddles the line between country and rock, said Denver Daines, who performed in the festival after winning the saddle bron event at the rodeo in Jasper.
Adam Daines said the Texas Connection was timed to mesh with another Texas music festival that takes place in Idaho a week earlier. Following on the heels of the Idaho show makes it easier to attract performers who are already within a reasonable driving distance of the ranch, he said.
Having so many music festivals on the same weekend is unavoidable in Alberta’s short summer and it’s not really a bad thing, said Eric Allison, co-producer of Jazz at the Lake.
People were given — and took — an opportunity to enjoy different styles of music in an array of formats.
Jazz at the Lake included five major shows, of which four sold out, he said. In between, there were free shows at a variety of venues and a Sunday “pub crawl,” with performers popping into a series of venues for short gigs throughout the day.
Central Music Festival, on the other hand, was a weekend event with a series of performers taking turns on the stage, along with a variety of other activities for participants, of whom a large number had camped at the site.
Organizer Mike Bradford said the Central Music Festival was more broad-based than the others, offering a full range of music styles.
Bradford said he didn’t see any conflict between the four festivals, given the tremendous variety of music and venues from which participants could choose.
Overall, organizers for all four festivals said they enjoyed brilliant weather and excellent music, with plans underway to do it again next year.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com