A late music icon and the region he called home will both be in the spotlight this weekend.
Fly Spirit, Fly, the first annual Ian Tyson Memorial Music Festival, an all-day, family-friendly event, will be held in Diamond Valley on Sunday, July 30.
Presented by the Diamond Valley Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Town of Diamond Valley, the festival will be held at the Municipal Reserve at 6th Avenue and 3rd Street SW in the community of Black Diamond.
Running from noon to 10 p.m., the festival will be headlined by John Wort Hannam, a recent winner of two Canadian Folk Music Awards, and The Gift, an Ian Tyson tribute show featuring former members of both Tyson's touring and studio recording groups.
Samantha Istance, administrator of the Diamond Valley Chamber of Commerce and one of the producers of the festival, said there was a conscious decision made to offer a diverse entertainment lineup, one that includes children’s performers, a motorcycle stunt show and Indigenous dancers.
The music portion begins with Girl Crush, who have become the sweethearts of Ranchman's, followed by a set from Honky Tonk, which brings Hannam and The Gift together on stage, and concludes with sets from each of the two headliners.
The festival will include an open-air beer garden featuring beverages from award-winning local operations such as Fahr Brewery, Spirit Hills Winery, Hard Knox Brewery, Twin Cities Saloon and Eau Claire Distillery.
Istance, who is producing the festival along with chamber president Murray Rodgers, said her background in film production has been helpful but it’s still been a challenge getting a project of such magnitude off the ground.
“It's definitely been a steep learning curve but I'm very satisfied with where we’re at. I think we're good to go,” she said. “The businesses and corporations who have come on board as sponsors have been amazingly generous and extremely supportive, and I really feel that for a first-year festival, we're going to make this work.”
Istance said the goal of the festival is three-fold: honour the legacy the Canadian music icon with deep roots in the Foothills who died late last year, provide a day of affordable family entertainment and showcase Diamond Valley and surrounding areas.
Given it’s being presented by the chamber of commerce, she said the festival is as much an economic development initiative as it is a form of entertainment. Istance said it’s intended to draw people to Diamond Valley to see what the area has to offer.
“We have amazing, unique boutique stores and eateries that you can't find anywhere else," Istance added. "We have a very unique history here, lots of fantastic vintage architecture, and we have this background of Kananaskis, which is a playground. People already understood this area was unique, so why not give them more of what they are looking for?”
Tickets to the festival are $45 for adults and $10 for youth (six and under are free). They’re available via Showpass at diamondvalleychamber.ca and at the gate. Ticket holders will be issued wristbands so they can come and go through the duration of the festival.
There will be four off-site parking lots that will be serviced by a shuttle in an effort to minimize congestion. Locations of the lots can be found at diamondvalleychamber.ca.
It's festival seating, so concert goers are reminded to bring lawn chairs.
