Pack an extra pair of socks and undies for this year’s longer River & Sky Music/Camping Festival -- now four days of emerging and celebrated indie music on the banks of the Sturgeon River from July 14-17.
Acts headlining the eighth R&S Festival include:
- Polaris short-listed Hey Rosetta!,
- New York’s indie-surf-rockers Beach Fossils,
- alt-country and psych gurus The Sadies,
- the noise-rock of Ottawa’s METZ, and
- electrifying singer-songwriter Basia Bulat.
“Each year we have 130 or so members helping put on the festival. They’ve asked for a longer, extended mix of River and Sky,” said Peter Zwarich, Festival Director. “And so this year, we’ll have four days of music with great bands from across Canada and the US, as well as our regional stars.”
Last year saw more friends and families attending the festival with 22% more weekend passes and 66% more day passes sold.
Altogether some 1,150 people of all ages spent the weekend swimming, getting stoked in the sauna, and soaking up the music at R&S on the grounds of Fishers’ Paradise in Field (West Nipissing).
This year, with a bigger music budget, 37 bands will take to the main, campfire, and beach stages, with more workshops and art installations.
Canadian bands include:
- Constantines frontman Bry Webb & the Providers (Toronto),
- indie rock trio The Courtneys (Vancouver),
- art-punk rockers Ought (Montreal),
- 1980s’ movies inspired TOPS (Montreal),
- the “smurf” or “smooth surf” sound of Moss Lime (Montreal),
- fiery super-group Darlene Shrugg (Toronto),
- the dreamy-sounding Language Arts (Halifax),
- cosmic reaching Nap Eyes (Halifax),
- the rootsy-blues of Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar (Toronto),
- spoken word and throat singing of Quantum Tangle
(Yellowknife), - singer-songwriter Steve Lambke (Toronto), and
- the post-punk grooves of PHERN (Montreal).
- Yonatan Gat, whose
sound ranges from surf to jazz to Afrobeat, will travel from their home in New York City to the festival.
Regional acts featured at the festival will include:
- Hurt Protector (Copper Cliff),
- Hidden Roots Collective (North Bay),
- Dunes (Sudbury),
- Dirty Princes (Sudbury),
- Hello Holiday (Sudbury),
- David Dino White (North Bay),
- Barry Miles (Sudbury),
- Submerged Objects (Sudbury),
- Josh Turnbull (Sudbury),
- Night Terrors (Sudbury),
- Matt Foy (Sudbury),
- Sik Rik (Sudbury),
- the Ape-ettes (Sudbury),
- Annie Sumi (North Bay), and
- Eric Clancy (Sudbury).
More will be announced in the coming weeks, including DJs for late-late night dance parties deep in the woods.
The festival is held on the grounds of Fishers’ Paradise (between Sudbury and North Bay), offering camping in field and forest, as well as swimming off a sandy beach on the Sturgeon River. R&S will be adding a second sauna in 2016.
River & Sky Music & Camping 101:
- You can bike, paddle or drive to River & Sky, located at Fishers’ Paradise in the community of Field (West Nipissing), between Sudbury and North Bay.
- 4-Day Advance Passes: Arrive July 14, at noon and stay until July 17. $180.
- 3-Day Advance Passes: Arrive July 15 and stay until the evening, July 17. $135.
- Full Day Passes (advance): Thursday $45, Friday $65, Saturday $65, Sunday $35.
- Night Passes (advance): Friday $45 and Saturday $45.
- Children 16 years and younger with their families get in for free.
- Dogs welcome on leashes.
- Sauna and Swimming – yes, but always at your own risk.
- No Beer tent: BYOB at your campsite.
- Camping available in field and forest area on the property. Tenting included in the price. This year trailers/rv’s will pay a fee of $25 or $50, depending on the size.
More info and tickets: www.riverandsky.ca
