The 13th annual Alberta’s Own Music Festival will be held this month at Tail Creek Raceways.
Alberta’s Own is a three-day music festival that showcases independent music from all across Canada, with many of the artists coming from Alberta. This year, there are more than 40 bands and artists that will be performing during the Festival which will be held from Aug. 29th – 31st.
“We’re looking at 40-plus bands from all over Canada. It is Alberta’s Own, but we do support bands from other provinces,” said Alberta’s Own Owner Rob Bouvier.
“It’s undeniable the talent in Canada. With the way the commercial system is, there is so much talent that doesn’t get to get out there. Our goal is to give those people a stage to showcase their art.”
Bouvier started the Festival 13 years ago in Donalda. Since then, it has outgrown several other rural venues and has finally settled at Tail Creek Raceway, located outside of Alix.
Artists from Red Deer and area include FoxJaw, Soulful Noize, Lust the Tide, The Frank, Jesse Roads, Outlaw Mary and Ashley’s Rejekts, among others.
Calgary bands Throne of Vengeance and The Implicate Order join the long list of bands that will also play the Festival.
“Our goal is to bring in a top notch stage with a few known names to bring people in to see all of the other talent we have. We have Monster Truck coming out to headline on Sunday night from 10 p.m. until midnight.”
Gates will open at 10 a.m. on Aug. 29th. And gates open at 9 a.m. on Aug. 30th and 31st. Camping is available on site.
A weekend pass is going for $155, with camping fees included. A single day pass is $55. For a single day, attendees can camp over for a single night, but must be gone by 9 a.m. the following day in order to create space.
“If they’re camping, we’re pretty lenient on getting people out. We don’t want people driving out if they don’t have to. If a person buys a day pass, they have the option to camp overnight but we’ll want them out by 9 a.m.,” said Bouvier.
“One thing is we want to keep safety up – we don’t want to push people out if they’ve been drinking later. We want to make sure they’re okay before they leave. We are a smaller festival so we pride ourselves on having safe events.”
The performers will be split between two stages, a main and a beer garden stage. In between sets on the main stage, there will be a 15-minute change-out time, during which a band on the adjacent beer gardens stage will play.
From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on both Aug. 30th and Aug. 31st, there will be an open jam event, meaning attendees can sign up to play with other musicians in a relaxed environment. Bouvier compared it to the ‘open jam nights’ at Red Deer’s pub and stage, The Vat.
There will be security checks at the facility that will be looking for prohibited items such as glass bottles or glass of any kind, weapons including knives and fireworks. ATVs and pets are also prohibited.
Tickets can be purchased from the Alberta’s Own web site – www.albertasown.ca. Additional information can be found through the web site or by contacting Bouvier by phone, which is located on the contact page of the site.
kmendonsa@reddeerexpress.com
