A.C. Music Festival pays tribute to founder
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The A.C. Music Festival in Gardenton paid tribute to founder Joe Blair, and according to this year’s organizer, his wife Rachel Blair, the June 7 event was a huge success.
“It went very well,” she said.
Even when rain fell, people remained, huddling under tarps, or escaping to the hall for a bite to eat while the bands kept playing.
“When they sang Who Will Stop the Rain” it just stopped,” she said.
While Rachel had intended this to be the last A.C. Music Festival in honour of her husband and festival founder Joe Blair who died in December of cancer, as the last notes were fading away, she’s not sure it’s time to pull the plug.
Rachel said she had many encounters with people who want to keep the festival going, and are offering to help or sponsor.
“Everybody that was there said they loved it so much,” she said.
She added that those that helped this year made it all possible.
“I wouldn’t have even done this without the committee and my family that came out of Ontario,” she said. “They put their hearts and souls into it.”
She said whether they were family members or friends, they created an amazing team.
“I couldn’t have done it without every single one of them.”
Brooke Page & The Rumbleseat was one of the early acts at the festival.
The lead singer, Brooke Reimer, said although it was her first time at the festival, it made an impression.
“An event like this is personal,” she said. “Everybody knows somebody who’s been effected by cancer.”
And Reimer said if she has another opportunity she’d love to come back.
“(Rachel) did such an amazing job this year in honour of Joe that it just touched my heart,” the Steinbach product who’s now a La Broquerie resident said.
