Republic Live, producers of Boots and Hearts, Canada’s largest camping and country music festival, announced today that they will be holding an annual music and arts camping festival at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds July 24th – 26th 2015. The new music and arts festival is the result of a collaboration between the Canadian-based promoter Republic Live and US promoter, AC Entertainment, co-founders of the Bonnaroo Music Festival. The festival promises an extraordinary lineup featuring some of the leading artists in music, the best selection of indie bands and local heroes and aspires to break the mold of today’s music festivals by inspiring fans to explore their own creativity as they discover new forms of contemporary art in an engaging, unforgettable, eye-opening experience.
“We’ve felt so fortunate to see Boots and Hearts grow in 3 short years to become Canada’s largest camping and country music festival, with the same aspirations for this new music and arts festival we’re excited to share more details including the name, brand and of course the line up, in the coming weeks,” said Shannon McNevan, Executive Director, Republic Live. “The dream for this whole thing began when a small group of us attended Bonnaroo in 2011 and had the best musical experience of our lives. As soon as we got home we started wondering why we didn’t have anything like it here in Canada. Seeing that come full circle to the point where Ashley and his team are now working with us to bring a truly international destination festival of that nature to Canada has been amazing. We can see with the growth of Boots and Hearts that Canada, and in particular Ontario, has the appetite to sustain camping and music festivals and we believe that the location, being so close to the GTA, is the perfect site for a music and arts camping festival.”
The new festival is well positioned within the provincial plans for the Live Music Strategy announced in January 2014, which indicates that the live music sector generates an estimated $455 million in revenues and contributes $252 million to the Canadian economy. According to the 2008 Pollara findings, 49% of Canadians attend live music events annually and a 2014 report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers demonstrates the live music market has grown at an annual average of 6.4% since 2010. Based on the Ontario TREIM model, a music and arts festival of this kind could generate upwards of $13.6 million in economic impact for the province in its first year alone with the opportunity to reach as much as $40 million.
“We are so excited to be working with Republic Live on a music and arts camping festival” said Ashley Capps, CEO of AC Entertainment and co-founder and producer of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. “Since we started talking to Republic Live, their passion to create a world class music and arts camping festival has been contagious. We believe that this event will become one of North America’s premiere festivals and we’re excited to share what we have in store for 2015 in the coming weeks.”
Republic Live, producers of Boots and Hearts, Canada’s largest camping and country music festival, in collaboration with AC Entertainment, co-founder of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, will be hosting this new music and arts camping festival at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds July 24th – 26th 2015. The festival will include 4 stages, a late night forest, original art installations, fine international and local cuisine, an on-site farmers market, and more to inspire fans to explore their own creativity while giving them a powerful, unforgettable, and eye opening experience using music and art as a catalyst.
