The Torchettes perform at South Country Fair.
South Country Fair returns this week to Fort Macleod Fish and Game Park after an absence of nearly 1,100 days.
The fair continues its mission of introducing people to a wide variety of music with a diverse line-up.
Music returning to the South Country Fair stage following two years of pandemic cancellations will be special for both organizers and entertainers.
“I think next week is going to be a universe of emotions,” artistic director Gillian Moranz said. “It is going to be so incredibly exciting to see the SCF family after a two-year hiatus, to see the festival grounds come to life with infrastructure and volunteers as the pre-festival week gears up, and to really get to enjoy a diverse pallet of live music in an outdoor festival setting once again.”
“I already know it is going to be simultaneously beautiful, exciting, chaotic, and likely a bit overwhelming in all the best ways. It always was a mixture of those things in the past, and I think this year will be very similar, just with an extra dose of gratitude now that we know what it is like to miss it. Things are certainly getting busy in the live music world once again, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Singer-songwriter John Wort Hannam, who performs Sunday afternoon, said playing music is a reciprocal exchange.
“The artist exists because of the audience’s need to feel something, whatever that emotion may be,” Wort Hannam said. “But in return the audience exists because of the artist’s need to also feel something. Live-streams tried to provide that exchange but they never quite cut it.”
“Feeling the exchange in person again this year will satisfy that need on both sides of the stage.”
There is a barbecue for volunteers Thursday, July 14 with performances by The Alien Rebels and The Revibarators.
Opening ceremonies are at 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 15 with remarks from organizers and a prayer by Lowell Yellowhorn.
Hoop dancer Sandra Lamouche performs at 5:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Emily Trigg and Beautiful Joe; The Torchettes, Kiran Ahluwalia, Copperhead, Circus Acts Insomniacs, Kitty and The Rooster and Taylor Ackerman’s Global Acid Reset.
South Country Fair is also featuring performances by Andrew Scott at 5 p.m. and the Sadlier-Brown Duo at 6 p.m. at Stronghold Brewery.
Saturday, July 16
Performances on the south stage on Saturday, July 16 get under way at 12 noon with Emily Trigg, followed by an SCF Session featuring Copperhead and Hawksley Workman.
Sandra Lamouche performs at 2:45 p.m., followed by The Alien Rebels, April Verch and Cody Walters.
Kitty and The Rooster, The Torchettes and A Million Dollars in Pennies are in another SCF Session at 5:45 p.m.
Circus Acts Insomniacs perform at 7:15 p.m., followed by Eugene Chadbourn and Jen Paches, Hawksley Workman, Terra Lightfoot, Ifriqiyya Electrique and Trio Svin.
Performances on the east stage on Saturday begin at 12 noon with Makilsma, followed by an SCF Session with Taylor Ackerman, Big Fancy and Benj Rowland.
A Million Dollars in Pennies takes the east stage at 2:35 p.m., followed by Paul Silveria and Big Fancy and The Shiddy Cowboys.
On Saturday at Stronghold Brewery as part of South Country Fair outreach, Jon Martin performs at 5 p.m. followed by Makilsma at 6 p.m.
Sunday, July 17
Performances on the south stage begin at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17 with Benj Rowland, followed by Beautiful Joe, John Wort Hannam, an SCF Session featuring April Verch, Cody Walters and Paul Silveria.
East stage performances on Sunday begin at 12 noon with Terra Lightfoot, Jon Martin and Lovers and an SCF Session with Trio Svin, Eugene Chadbourne and Jen Paches.
Sandra Lamouche will perform a jingle dress dance and lead a round dance beginning at 4:45 p.m. to close South Country Fair.
At the Fair
Andrew Scott will lead intermediate ukulele workshops at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
On-site camping is available only to those who buy a weekend festival pass. Check-in begins at 9 a.m. Friday.
There will be a marketplace during South Country Fair, with vendors selling a variety of goods including clothing and handcrafted leather goods.
A henna artist will decorate people with temporary tattoos, and a counsellor and psychic will offer tarot, palmistry and other services.
Vendors will also be at South Country Fair selling mini doughnuts, crepes, Jamaican and Thai food, poutine, deep-fried mac and cheese, artisan baked goods, coffee, tea and other refreshments.
For the first time, South Country Fair will have an ATM on-site.
