EAR FALLS — Musicians and music lovers will soon be filling up Ear Falls Waterfront Park for the latest instalment of the Trout Forest Music Festival.
This year’s all-Canadian lineup features performers like King Cardiac, Big Dave McLean, Rube & Rake and the teaming up of two prolific songwriters, Kris Ulrich and Dylan MacDonald, as Kris Ulrich vs Field Guide.
“It’s all original music — I mean, people might do a few cover songs — but they’re all artists that … have been at least putting out their own music and, more likely, they’ve put out a recent record,” said Devin Latimer, Trout Forest’s music producer.
“We’re trying to support people that are putting out records and trying to tour, so this gives them a bit of an anchor date,” he continued.
“Festivals are kind of where it’s at for trying to establish yourself a little bit.”
Trout Forest has been around for over 30 years — two years of which were lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this year the 28th iteration, according to Latimer — and over time, the festival has evolved a bit, but remains true to highlighting a variety of folk and roots-oriented acts.
The weekend will feature performances on three stages: the waterfront stage, a family stage and the Frank’s Tavern stage.
Rodney Brown will also be performing, both on the main waterfront and family stages.
As his 17th festival as the music producer, Latimer added that ticket sales this year have been strong.
He said it’s great to see people continuing to support festivals like Trout Forest, especially with other larger events like the Vancouver Island Music Festival shutting down.
Latimer said Trout Forest’s more modest size actually works to its advantage.
“The nice thing about Trout Forest, I think that I hear from people and that we consider to be the case, is that it’s just... very laid back,” he said. “You’re not fighting crowds, your tent is only going to be a couple (of) hundred feet away.”
“You don’t have to take your whole day with you when you go to the festival and it’s a much more casual (time).”
And, as far as organizers are concerned, Latimer said, they intend to keep it that way.
“The way I feel (as does) everybody involved with the festival, it’s just the right size for the way it is, for the size of the community that it’s in and they would love it to just stay healthy and stay right around this size,” he said.
“It’s right where everybody wants it to be.”
