Bayfest Weekend in Sarnia, Ontario

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
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Sarnia
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Last night kicked off Bayfest weekend in Sarnia, Ontario. For those who do not know, Bayfest is an annual music festival that takes place on Sarnia's waterfront, in Centennial Park. Unlike past Bayfests, this year's festival is highlighted by mainly country music acts.

Last night, Keith Urban performed before a crowd of about 20,000 people, according to an article in today's Sarnia Sun. Tonight, the rock bands Everclear and Collective Soul will perform.

It will be interesting to see the numbers for tonight's rock performances, in comparison to the headlining country acts on the remaining nights. Interesting because this is the first time that Bayfest has diverged from its traditional rock roots to the country music genre.

Having been educated by one of the greatest programming talents in Canadian commercial radio, Ronald Edward Dann, I'm eager to see what effect the "preconceived notions" of the country music listener will have on this years festival.

I will be reporting news of the festival here for all of you to share in and ponder.
 

tamarin

House Member
Jun 12, 2006
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Oshawa ON
I like Sarnia. A lot of good folk there. Bayfest reminds me of Peterborough's Festival of Lights, a longrunning free summer concert series held twice a week beside scenic Little Lake. More Ontario towns should sponsor such events. Especially this year with tourism in a slump and the public's spirit tested by glum international events.
 

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
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Sarnia
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Re: RE: Bayfest Weekend in Sarnia, Ontario

tamarin said:
I like Sarnia. A lot of good folk there. Bayfest reminds me of Peterborough's Festival of Lights, a longrunning free summer concert series held twice a week beside scenic Little Lake. More Ontario towns should sponsor such events. Especially this year with tourism in a slump and the public's spirit tested by glum international events.

You're absolutely right! There are indeed a lot of good folks here in this sleepy little town. There's some bad folks too, but they're the minority. Thankfully.

Sarnia also has a festival of lights each winter. I've only been down to check it out once, but I have seen many pictures in the local newspapers. I may have even caught a passing glimpse on television as well. If I'm not mistaken, there are some pictures on the Sarnia Lambton Economic Development website. You can check some of them out there.

I've never been to Peterborough. Haven't heard too much about it either, but I used to do business with a man in Peterborough. I doubt that you would know him, but he used to operate the Bellcom Public Domain library. He was a good Christian man.

It looks like it's raining outside tonight. This will probably not be very good for the turnout at tonight's rock shows with Everclear and Collective Soul. Although, I've heard that dedicated rock fans will brave just about anything for some good beer and noise. I guess you can probably tell that I'm not a big fan of either Collective Soul or Everclear. :lol:

I was kind of hoping that there would be no rain this weekend, as I was hoping to see how the turnout for the rock acts compared to that of the country music acts. I feel that tonight's rain could possibly skew the data a little bit. Regardless, the show must go on... Or so they say.

I do know that the Sarnia Sun ran a little poll on their website, in which they asked readers which act they were most looking forward to. I believe Brooks & Dunn scored the highest, with one of the two rock acts scoring a big fat zero. I don't recall which rock act received zero votes, but I do recall that the combined rock acts received 9% of the votes, with the country acts receiving the remaining 91%. Personally, I'm somewhat surprised by these results, but I am not at all disappointed by them. :lol:

If you want to read about last night's show, or checkout some of the pictures, you can surf over to the Sarnia Sun's website. They have a PDF version of their daily available for free download. You can visit their site at here: www.sarniasun.com
 

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
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Sarnia
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Re: RE: Bayfest Weekend in Sarnia, Ontario

GreenGreta said:
Ya, I knew a travel agent there and she really loved it!

Ah, a travel agent. The people that will highlight the benefits of Hell and produce colorful brochures to show that what they say is true. Cozy romantic evenings by the fire.... Ah, the allure of Hell...
 

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
443
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Sarnia
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Well, the one night of rock at this year's four-day Bayfest, has come and gone. Two bands, Everclear and Collective Soul, one low $15 price, and a natural lightshow provided by God himself.

Yes, the thunder rolled and the lightning struck this years rock acts at Sarnia's Bayfest. Delayed by pouring rain, smaller than expected crowds braved the harsh conditions for a night of sex, drugs and rock and roll. At least according to one person (loser?) cited in an Observer article about last night's event.

Actual numbers for last nights shows were are not available in any of the press articles I've read. It is suggested, however, that the country acts were a great success.

Hmm, perhaps someday I may actually go to a Bayfest event. I'll clear some time on my calendar in 2014. I guess it's a bit too early to reserve tickets for the 2014 Bayfest? :lol:
 

Simpleton

Electoral Member
Jun 17, 2006
443
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Sarnia
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Well, I finally have the numbers for this years Bayfest turnout. It seems that the lowest turnout was indeed for the "Rock" night. However, as I mentioned earlier, it pissed down rain on rock night.

Keith Urban, who played on Thursday night, attracted 20,000 fans.

Collective Soul and Everclear, who took the stage on Friday night, attracted 8,500 fans.

Gretchen Wilson, who made an appearance on Saturday night, attracted 16,000 fans.

Brooks and Dunn, who closed out Bayfest on Sunday, attracted 18,000 fans.

These are the numbers that were published in the July 19, 2006, edition of Sarnia Sun This Week. Make of them what you want.