This year’s Salmon Arm Roots and Blues was anticipated to be a great one after a two year hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions – with Jann Arden, Blue Rodeo, Colin Linden, Crystal Shawanda, Hawksley Workman, Five Alarm Funk, Sarah Maclachlin, and many others. However, BC’s wildfires had another idea.
We were able to attend the first evening, but lost power at our hotel before heading out, and more than half of Salmon Arm lost power – along with Voyent Alerts for communities outlying Salmon Arm. No power = no way to amplify guitars and speakers. However, the good people at the festival managed to restore temporary power and the show was back on – albeit Blue Rodeo hitting the stage an hour early. (found out later the band prior couldn’t make it due to road closures. By the time Blue Rodeo were into their fourth song, it was apparent that the air was becoming unsafe due to falling ash the size of large snowflakes, and we decided to leave – the festival was called to a halt a short time later (thankfully).
Saturday morning the air was even worse, more road closures and the Festival organizers made the hard choice to cancel the rest of the weekend, putting out a statement:
“We have been in direct communication with our local fire officials and RCMP and with their support we have decided to cancel the remainder of our festival weekend, ” the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society said in an Saturday morning update. At every planning stage the SAFMS follows a safety first approach to ensure our patrons, volunteers and community health and safety is a priority. Canceling…was a difficult decision to make and one we did not take lightly. We will be in touch with ticket holders with more information within the following weeks. While we are monitoring our phone lines and messages, individual inquiries will not be answered.”
A later statement from organizers:
“Roots and Blues is where our friends, family and community meet once a year to create everlasting memories,” the festival’s statement noted. Despite this year’s festival being cut short, we will make every effort to present the 32nd annual festival in the way we have all come to know and love.”
Merch from Salmon Arm Roots and Blues 2023 is also still available, as there wasn’t much of a chance to sell it at the festival before it was cancelled. Click this link to learn more.
Organizers are already looking to 2024 season, and if the past years are any indication, it’s going to be awesome.
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