There will be no outlaw country at Grand Forks’ Canada Rocks Fest this August, according to festival organizer Chuck Varabioff.
Varabioff said late last year that he hoped to feature outlaw country acts, which would’ve been a first for the Boundary’s largest outdoor music festival. But top performers like Blue Rodeo and Dwight Yoakam have since turned down offers to headline this year’s ticket, citing busy summer schedules and COVID-19 travel restrictions.
READ MORE: Grand Forks’ Canada Rock Fest to return in 2022
“The worst thing is that all of this could change in the next two months. But, I’m not willing to take a half a million dollar gamble that governments on both sides of the border will remove these restrictions,” he told The Gazette Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Canada Fest will instead feature a ’90s night brimming with Canadian and American bands Varabioff said would be “instantly well known to everybody.”
Nineties night will kick off the festival at Varabioff’s Grand Forks acreage Thursday, Aug. 4. Shows over the weekend will feature Canada Rocks’ classic rock vintage, also featuring big performers.
Varabioff said he’d booked most of the weekend’s lineup, which he said he hoped to announce sometime this week.
Tickets are available online. The festival will honour all tickets sold in 2020, while more tickets will soon be available for in-person sales in Grand Forks.
*Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that tickets would be sold at a Grand Forks business that has no afiliation with Canada Rocks Fest.
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