2017 featured artist Roni Jurgensen
Seventh Annual Wapiti Music Festival August 11th & 12th Annex Park wapitimusicfestival.com
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Fresh Mountain Experience
Locations to Serve You Better!
Legacy Ford Fernie 6165 Brenners Road, FERNIE 250-423-9211
Legacy Fleet Services 641 Sparwood Drive, SPARWOOD 778-518-5006
Legacy Ford Fernie 15 Bear Paw Crescent, ELKFORD 778-519-0025
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The Free Press
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August 11-12, 2017 Annex Park, Fernie
Wapiti Organizer Welcome Message You can’t have a great community event without a great community and Wapiti is definitely a fun community event in a fantastic community. In the spirit of ensuring the event is available to everyone in and out of Fernie, organizers have focused from the beginning on: having the festival be affordable for families by making children and seniors free; keeping pass prices low; having the festival within walking distance right in town; bringing in established and just starting out Canadian Indie bands, to have something for everyone. We love that visitors tell us they come for the festival, but find so many other things to do in and around Fernie. Welcome to Wapiti if you’ve never been before, and welcome back if you’re a veteran. We hope you have a ‘fresh mountain experience’ while you’re here. So, enjoy the festival, but get out and see around Fernie and the Elk Valley as well. Wapiti Music Festival Society
Enhancing the Experience Last year Wapiti Music Festival introduced reusable stainless steel cups as part of our ongoing effort to reduce waste from the event and enhance attendee experience. The response and result blew us away. We sold almost 1000 cups and, combined with our composting program, reduced our landfill waste by 70 per cent! This year we’re very excited to introduce stainless steel wine cups. These stemless, double-walled steel cups will keep your wine cool and look cooler. The cups will be sold at Wapiti, in the merchandise tent, and in the beverage garden. They are discounted when purchased with drink tickets, otherwise the cups will retail for $10 including taxes. These are stunning cups and we hope people will take them home and use them yearround to remind them of the great time at Wapiti. Please bring them back next year. These cups are meant to be used year after year. Wapiti is thankful for the generous support of Tourism Fernie in bringing these cups to the festival.
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Thursday, August 10, 2017 Page C3
August 11-12, 2017 Annex Park, Fernie
Schedule of Events Friday, August 11
Saturday, August 12
6:00 pm Gates Open
Noon
7:00 pm Twin Peaks
12:30 pm Dawson Rutledge
Gates Open
8:15 pm Scenic Route to Alaska 2:00 pm Velle 9:45 pm Dead South
3:30 pm Sam Weber
11:00 pm Closed
5:00 pm Belle Game
+ tax
8:00 pm Tokyo Police Club
wapitimusicfestival.com
9:45 pm Five Alarm Funk 11:00 pm Closed
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Wapiti Music Festival
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Adult Weekend Pass
6:30 pm Royal Canoe
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Tickets
Single days and teen passes are available. Seniors 65 and over, and Children 12 and under, are free!
Hwy 3 Near Boston Pizza 250-423-6522 9am-11pm Every Day ferniemountainspirits.com
7 Days a Week 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 792 - 2nd Avenue, Fernie • 250-423-4607
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Page C4 Thursday, August 10, 2017
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August 11-12, 2017 Annex Park, Fernie
Scenic Route to Alaska – Alternative/Indie, Edmonton, AB
Twin Peaks – Roots, Fort St. John, B.C. You don’t have to listen long to grasp the beauty in the blended voices of Western Canadian Music Award winning folk/roots duo Twin Peaks (Naomi Shore and Lindsay Pratt). But when you experience their live show you’ll realize that their music is about something much more captivating than just a catalogue of clever songs. It’s the expression of a rare kind of harmony that exists between their spirits – that’s what makes Twin Peaks so infectious and unforgettable.
Substance and accessibility are often considered opposing forces when it comes to pop music, making it all the more impressive when a band like Scenic Route to Alaska so effortlessly delivers ample doses of both. Long Walk Home, the prairie indie outfit’s soon-to-drop third LP, finds them effortlessly weaving catchy vocals and memorable melodies through rich arrangements – instantly engaging but begging to be heard again and again. It’s a coveted combination within the crowded sphere of indie rock – and one that’s rarely the product of anything but time, talent, and heaps of hard work. Of course, Scenic Route to Alaska are no strangers to any of those.
The Dead South – Folk, Regina, Sk. The Dead South is a four-piece acoustic ensemble based in Regina, Saskatchewan. With Nate Hilts’ gritty vocals and aggressive guitar strumming, Scott Pringle’s soaring harmonies and mandolin chops, Colton Crawford’s blazing banjo licks and steady kick drum, and Danny Kenyon’s prominent cello melodies, The Dead South blends elements of folk, bluegrass, classical, and rock which results in a unique, modern, and authentic blend of boot-stompin’ acoustic music.
Dawson Rutledge – Alternative/Indie, Cranbrook B.C. Dawson Rutledge is a solo singer-songwriter, musician, and performer from Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. In 2015, he was awarded the top male musician scholarship by his high school and a District/Authority Scholarship by the Ministry of Education for his exceptional musical ability. Dawson’s very first performance of an original song, Mysterious Woman, was in June of 2015 at the Key City Theatre. He has hardly taken a breath since, staying very busy performing, recording and writing a multitude of original songs. Dawson Rutledge has quickly become “…one of the most talked about musicians to come from this city.” (Kootenay News Advertiser August 2016)
Velle – Retro, Roots, Soul, Creston, B.C. Velle (rhymes with Bell, and sounds like VehL) has a new powerful and unique sound that is imaginative with influences that span the last 75 years of contemporary popular music. Her music has been described as retro, roots and soul. A bold songstress from the Central Kootenay in British Columbia (Creston, BC), Velle has toured internationally with previous acts out of Victoria B.C. She has performed all over Canada, the US and the UK (England and Ireland )as a support musician and background singer. When she started fronting her own band, fans of folk festivals took notice as she made an impact on the scene. She returned to the Kootenays to raise her family, where she ventured to start her first solo album and teach music. Despite all her work in the folk realm, her heart always wanted to write and perform soul music, her well-known folk producer Adrian Dolan was excited to begin, and thus, Velle went from teaching to being a full time artist and songwriter with the release of ‘The Right Time’ on October 21st, 2016. Free Press Pull-Out Section 2016
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Thursday, August 10, 2017 Page C5
August 11-12, 2017 Annex Park, Fernie
Toyko Police Club – Indie, Newmarket, Ont.
Five Alarm Funk – Funk, Vancouver, B.C.
So say Tokyo Police Club, who are set to release their first batch of new music since the enterprising and vaulting 2014 LP Forcefield. Now ten years on from their 2006 debut EP, the Toronto four-piece are looking back to the energy and spirit of that formative era while keeping an eye on the future. And with the two-part and self-released Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness EP’s being let loose on both ends of 2016, lead singer/bass player and principal songwriter Dave Monks, drummer Greg Alsop, keyboardist/ guitarist Graham Wright, and guitarist Josh Hook have harnessed that primal and instinctual joy to make Tokyo Police Club’s tightest, brightest, and certainly raddest batch of songs to date.
Hot, sweaty dance floors with feet stomping and every body moving. Grooves for days. Monster horns, crushing percussion and shredding psych-rock guitars. These are among the elements that make up the Five Alarm Funk experience. The Vancouver-based band is eight men strong and over a decade deep into a career that has seen it release five acclaimed albums and burn up stages across the country on six national tours. And this vehicle isn’t about to slow down. In fact, Five Alarm Funk is just picking up steam. Set to release their 6th studio album, Sweat, on March 3, 2017, Sweat gets right to the roots of what Five Alarm Funk is all about. Epic, intense arrangements, heavy groove and a ton of fun.
Sam Weber – Roots/Rock, Victoria B.C.
Belle Game – Crush Pop, Vancouver B.C.
Royal Canoe – Indie Pop, Winnipeg, MB.
Sam Weber is a singer/songwriter and a roots rockband from Victoria, B.C., Canada in the vein of Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Gillian Welch and the Eagles. Sam Weber’s live show pairs genuine song writing with world-class musicianship and three-part harmonies. They’ve toured Canada five times in the past two years playing hundreds of shows large and small. “[Weber] is an expert tunesmith, brimming with addictive, adventurous and confident pieces. Infused with deep wit and wisdom, Weber’s output is truly impressive. His guitar work is also killer, full of nuance, soul and truly unique voice.” - Guitar Player Magazine
Led by the hypnotic vocals of Andrea Lo, Belle Game weaves ethereal soundscapes into, blown-out, crush-pop confessions. Sonically, Belle Game exists somewhere between new-age visions and unkempt basements. Keyboards and guitars swell between the cracks as a foundation of subsonic rhythm is splayed across the floor. Their debut album Ritual Tradition Habit earned the band critical praise from the likes of Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, while their emotional live performances prompted Paste Magazine to name them one of the “10 Great New Bands from CMJ”.
Almost three years have passed since the release of Royal Canoe’s sophomore album, Today We Are Believers (2013). Those years were full. The band played 200 shows, which included tours with the likes of Alt J and Bombay Bicycle Club, and stops at major festivals like Bonaroo, Iceland Airwaves, and Osheaga. The hard work paid off: We Are Believers received critical acclaim, was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year at the Junos, and won Best Independent Album at Western Canadian Music Awards.
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The Free Press
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August 11-12, 2017 Annex Park, Fernie
Welcome to Wapiti 2017 On behalf of City Council and the City of Fernie it gives me great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to everyone to the 2017 WAPITI Music Festival. Wapiti is truly the home for fresh Canadian Independent music and what better place to enjoy the sweet sounds of developing and veteran artists than in the spectacular mountain setting of the Annex Park. You are sure to have a wonderful time listening to artists such as headliner Tokyo Police Club, Twin Peaks, Belle Game, Scenic Route to Alaska, The Dead South, Dawson Rutledge, Velle, Sam Weber, Royal Canoe and Five Alarm Funk. You can walk, ride your bike or drive your vehicle to the Park and once there be prepared to tantalize your taste buds with the great variety of delicious fare available from food vendors as well as cold drinks in the beer tent. There is an Art expo display of 15 local artists who will have original works on show and for children a wonder-walk, an interesting story about a girl done in a series of 30 drawings by artist Brina Schenk and also merchandise and kid’s craft tents. This is a great event for people of all ages, with seniors and children receiving complimentary admission. Congratulations Wapiti! Since your successful inaugural event each year has become better than the last and this year is sure to be no exception with the excellent talent you have lined up. Welcome visitors, enjoy a wonderful time in our great town and along with the festival please take in some of the historical landmarks including the Miners Walk located downtown. You will appreciate wandering around our unique shops and cafés, biking and hiking the numerous trails or fishing the Elk River. The City of Fernie is proud to be a sponsor of Wapiti and we sincerely thank the many sponsors that also support this wonderful event. Special thanks need to be expressed to the Wapiti team and all the volunteers that put so much time and energy into the organization Duck and implementation of this huge undertaking. You make this event very successful and make Fernie very proud of the product you put forth. A million thanks to each and everyone of you. Thank you. Mary Giuliano, Mayor
Ride - Bike - Walk Festival Site Duck Pond
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Thursday, August 10, 2017 Page C7
August 11-12, 2017 Annex Park, Fernie
Tips for enjoying Wapiti Don’t forget:
TD Kid’s Tent Saturday 1 to 4 p.m. There will be crafts! Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Hat, Waterbottle, Camera, Cash, Sunscreen, and photo ID to collect your tickets. Glass containers and non-factory sealed beverages are not allowed on the festival grounds. Only service animals are permitted on the festival grounds.
Safety Reminder The Elk River is a fast moving mountain river. There are no lifeguards on duty. It is recommended to avoid the river and the duck pond and watch your children at all times, especially near the water. You are at your own risk.
Free Parking • Secure Bike Check Wapiti is pleased to provide parking at no charge for those attending the event. We also have a secure bike check and strongly encourage festival- goers to ride their bikes or walk to the event if possible. If you are driving please watch for the signs and volunteers directing you to the parking area inside Annex Park. There is parking along city streets, but we ask that you respect the properties and driveways of residents and avoid blocking their access and not park on lawns. Also, please respect no parking signs where they are posted. Please note that care should be taken around the festival grounds, especially after dark, as there is considerable foot and bike traffic.
Food & Refreshment Vendors There is a vendor village where food trucks and vendors will tantalize your tastebuds, alongside colourful craft vendors. Fernie Brewing Company will be serving up Fernie’s best brew, and wine and cider will be served from the Gehringer Brothers Okanagan Winery and Lone Tree Cider.
The Music Event of the Summer THE FREE PRESS Proud Sponsors of
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Wishing you a fun, festive and safe weekend at Wapiti - Fernie’s Music Festival! Fernie Mountain Lodge 1622 - 7 Ave, Fernie, BC V0B 1M0 Ph: 250-423-5500 www.bestwesternfernie.com Each Best Western® branded hotel is independently owned and operated.
1791 9th Avenue, Fernie 250-423-4222
KEEP IT ALL CANADIAN THIS WAPITI AND VISIT CANADIAN TIRE FOR ALL YOUR FESTIVAL SUPPLIES!
. r e v E . d n e k e e W . t s Be
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The Free Press
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Sponsor Thank You Message The Wapiti Music Festival Society would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors for their ongoing support of Wapiti. From our first event 7 years ago, suppliers, vendors, and accommodators have been incredibly generous in their support. We urge you to take the time to thank our sponsors on ours and your behalf should you have the opportunity - events like Wapiti would simply not happen without them.
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