Maroon 5, Pitbull, Simple Plan to headline Salmon Festival

Maroon 5 and Pitbull were announced on Wednesday as the headlining acts for this year's Salmon Festival in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Alongside the headlining acts is Canadian band Simple Plan, as well as the up-and-coming acts American Authors and Virginia to Vegas.

People had mixed opinions about the lineup, which is a far removal from the traditional classic rock lineups of recent years.

In recent years, headlining acts included bands like The Eagles, Aerosmith and Kiss.

Salmon Fest Chair Darren Finn said he thinks concertgoers unfamiliar with this year's musical acts might be surprised to learn how popular their songs are.

"When you look up the bands, when you look up the songs they sing, you say, 'Yeah, I didn't know they sang this one, or that one,' these bands have a lot of of songs that are mainstream right now," said Finn.

According to Finn, the acts are high-calibre performers that should appeal to a range of audiences.

"When you attract the Grammy-award winning level entertainment, it crosses all demographics, because it's the music we hear every day."

Mixed reception

Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Al Hawkins said there are a lot of reasons for music lovers to get excited for this year's festival.

"One of the things we try to do is arrange the entertainment for a wide range of age and demographics, so we believe we've been successful again in trying to provide a lineup that attracts many age groups and we're pretty excited about this year's announcement," said Hawkins.

Town resident Nikki Herren said the lineup was a nice change for the festival.

"It's good. It's gonna be more for the younger group, which is kind of nice, I guess," she said. "I like Maroon 5 and Simple Plan, definitely love Pitbull."

Melissa Elliott said while it's not necessarily her cup of tea, the change was probably due.

"Not bad. I mean, some good bands. I wish they had some … I don't know, I like different kind of music," said Elliott.

"I like the classic rock. It's hard to get tourists with those types of bands, but it would have been pretty cool."

The date for the 30th Salmon Festival is set for July 5, with tickets going on sale May 30 at 7 a.m. at Needs Convenience Stores province-wide.

Ticket prices have yet to be announced.

Free water will be available

The Town of Grand Falls-Windsor said a new municipal water station and misting stations will be implemented to avoid water shortages.

According to the town, free water will be made available for concertgoers.

Last year's concert saw some controversy after vendors inside the festival gates ran out of bottled water for sale. 

Some concertgoers complained of overheating and lack of water, as temperatures last year reached 31 C.

The Eagles headlined last year's Salmon Festival, supported by the Tragically Hip and Blue Rodeo. The event drew criticism for overcrowding in the VIP section and for a lack of water at the site. 

This year's announcement comes about six weeks later in the year than when the 2013 lineup was announced.