World-class talent will rock Cavendish Beach Music Festival this weekend
'We’ve always listened to the fans and tried to do our best to bring in the artists they wanted'
A proliferation of plaid shirts, suntans and cowboy boots can mean only one thing: Cavendish Week Music Festival is upon P.E.I. once again.
The annual country music festival is back in Cavendish this weekend running from Friday to Monday with perhaps the biggest name in country music, Luke Bryan, headlining a sold-out show on Sunday.
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Jeff Squires, president and CEO of Whitecap Entertainment, said single-tickets for Sunday are already gone but — as of Thursday afternoon — other tickets are still available in limited quantities.
"We've always listened to the fans and tried to do our best to bring in the artists they wanted to see over the years," Squires told CBC News: Compass.
"Whether it's Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, or the Zach Brown Band … it's all world-class talent."
'Customer friendly'
Concert-goers may notice a few changes to the venue this year, he said.
The event has some new sponsors and the main stage has changed a bit. Also, the venue layout is a little different to make it more "customer friendly" than it has been in the past and to help out emergency responders if needed.
This was done mostly by making the entire venue licensed to sell alcohol.
"In previous years, basically 85 per cent of the site would have been licensed and so it was a matter of making the other 15 per cent of the area licensed and making it more efficient for people to move around for service providers and emergency providers to do their job," he said.
Previously, there was a segregated licensed area where people were ID'd and given bracelets as they came in and the rest of the site was alcohol-free.
Now, it will be an all-ages venue with alcohol made available on most of the site. There will be a specific dry section that will be alcohol-free, but the rest of the grounds will be licensed.
In case the heat becomes a concern, Squires said there are places throughout the event to stay cool and hydrated.
This is the 10th anniversary of the country music festival which annually draws 17,000 to 22,000 people per day to the long weekend of concerts.
The event ends Monday evening following the final show, Shawn Mendes.
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With files from CBC News: Compass