Hank Rogers Festival moving to the Backlands
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The Hank Rogers Music Festival is moving to the Williams Lake Backlands, Halifax for its 2024 re-boot.
After 14 years, the festival has left its home in Balls Creek, Cape Breton because fewer people make the trek each year. “If we want to stay alive, we need to be near an urban centre, with good roads and transit options”, said Ruby Rogers, the late Hank Rogers sister and festival spokesperson. “People love enjoying music while outside in nature”.
The festival association scouted locations around Halifax, with a focus on the Backlands, and settled on the high granite barrens above Williams Lake. “That means mud won’t be as much of a problem, if we get rained out – the drainage is very good there.” Performers will play under the protection of a large tent, and simple wooden platforms will be constructed to act as stages. Seating will be “bring your own blanket or chair”, Rogers says.
“We’ll encourage people to stay in local hotels and B&B’s, but we’ll set aside room for a tent village” says Rogers. People staying overnight will have the opportunity to do some early morning bird-watching, while being careful to avoid the eggs of ground-nesting birds like the endangered Nighthawk.
The festival trimmed back its 3-day duration to 2 days – but they will be jam-packed, and will showcase a range of local talent, from musical genres as diverse as folk, hip hop, and heavy metal. “We are making sure that younger performers are given a chance on the stage” says John Mundane, lead vocalist of the band Max8-Flight-Safety, who is consulting with the festival.
Gasoline generators will be transported to the site, to provide power for electric guitars, pianos and large amplifiers. Mundane says they expect people will be able to hear the music as far away as Governors Brook. People attending are advised to bring ear plugs, if they are sensitive to loud sounds.
Organizers thought long and hard about how to avoid issues experienced historically by large music festivals. People will be encouraged to use transit and avoid parking on local streets. “We have not solved the problem of sanitation, which is a big concern” says organizer Honey Hutchins, “and that is something we need to think about”.
Another issue that plagues music festivals is that of clean-up afterwards. “There is no denying there will be garbage – people have to eat and drink. We are arranging a team to stay afterwards to bag the debris, load it onto carts, and haul it out”, says Hutchins. The idea is to leave as little trace as possible.
The festival has applied for a license to serve liquor, which is still pending. “Alcohol brings its own problems” says festival security coordinator Al Pinkerton, “but we know if we don’t offer it, people will sneak it in anyway, so we might as well try to recoup some of our costs”.
An early sneak peek at the line-up of acts will whet anyone’s appetite for a musical afternoon in the pristine natural environment surrounding Williams Lake. Some confirmed performers include: Max8-Flight-Safety, The Ronnie Nighthawk Band, Simone and Gareth, The Private Buccaneers, Death Becomes Us, Celtic Reflections, The Dirty Little Beasties, Island Sound, The Minxes, Master/Slave Dialectic, The Seadogs, Uncle Bunkum and the Red-Hot Zipliners, Doxie and the Screamers, The Undergarments, Before the Fog, Bertie and Bernice, Call Ubertones, Come By Chance, Cameron Delisle, The River Wastrels, Harps for Hope, The Castanets, Pine Hollow Homies, Iron Chalice, and P-Fuddy.
Of course lovers of traditional folk can still enjoy classic Hank Rogers favourites like Simone and Gareth’s Jedi Award covers of How Can I Miss You, Tokin’ on a Halifax Pier, The Salmon Farm Longliners, and of course Giving you Up.
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