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Live Nation festival ‘an opening’ for Pemberton

Spud Valley to play host to Coldplay, Jay-Z, Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails and The Tragically Hip
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Musical Coup Rob Meilleur, president of the Pemberton Lions, Lisa Ames, president of the Pemberton Rotary, Shane Bourbonnais, Live Nation, Paul Selina, president of the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce and Sandy Ryan, vice-president of the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce at the announcement of Pemberton Festival. Photo submitted.

Pemberton’s annual barn dance may be slightly overshadowed this summer, as Jay-Z, Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty and The Tragically Hip roll into town to perform at the first ever Pemberton Festival.

After almost four months of planning, Live Nation, an international music events company, confirmed it is bringing a three-day European-style outdoor music festival, featuring more than 50 performers, to the area July 25 to 27.

Shane Bourbonnais, president of North American Touring and Business Development for Live Nation, made the announcement on Thursday evening to a full house at the Big Sky Golf and Country Club in Pemberton.

Eagerly clutching wine glasses and promotional posters, Pemberton residents cheered as Bourbonnais released the full, confirmed lineup and laid out details of the festival.

Rumours of the event first surfaced in late fall. Since then, Live Nation has been working to get approvals from organizations like the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, the Village of Pemberton, the Ministry of Transportation, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, and the local Agricultural Advisory Committee.

They finally received final approval from the Agricultural Land Commission, and are now ready to move forward.

“I was ecstatic,” said Bourbonnais. “I got the call, I put the phone down, and I just kind of stared outside the window and went ‘wow’ — I was stunned. It had finally all come together, all the different agencies that we had to deal with, and it was great. It was such an amazing feeling that we had passed all the hurdles.”

The primary festival site is about 320 acres of flat field, known as the Ravens Crest property, in Area C of the SLRD. It will feature a main stage, a second stage, a dance tent, multiple bars, vendors, a farmer’s market, local art displays, and a kid’s zone.

Since this is a new venue for Live Nation, organizers aren’t really sure how many people to expect, but are hoping to have 25,000 to 30,000 people come to the festival each day, though the maximum capacity for the site, including all staff, volunteers and security personnel, is 40,000.

“To achieve those numbers in the first year of a festival is very difficult,” said Bourbonnais.

So far, valley residents seem supportive of the plans.

Stephanie Dartois was just one of many people who attended the March 13 announcement. Dartois lives in Pemberton and works for Ravens Crest Developments, so she had an inkling of what was planned for the site, but was shocked to hear the full lineup of performers.

“I think it’s going to be incredible for Pemberton,” said Dartois, adding that Pemberton is often overshadowed by Whistler and its participation in the 2010 Olympic Games.

“We needed the opening to bring us into the rest of 2010,” she said.

Bourbonnais says the festival will help bring a lot of attention and economic opportunity to the region.

“We’re going to need a lot of people to put this together — it’s a big undertaking,” said Bourbonnais. “It’s going to bring a lot of profile to the area. We’re going to have international media covering it.”

Depending on how things go this year, the Pemberton Festival could become an annual event, which Bourbonnais points out would be an “anchor” for the local tourism industry.

So far, he’s had a few people question Pemberton as a venue choice, but is confident that they’ve made the right decision.

“There are so many great things happening in Pemberton and it’s just an incredibly beautiful place,” said Bourbonnais. “One of the things we love about it is you can come to the festival and you can camp and it will be a great experience, but if camping’s not your thing, you can drive 25 minutes up the road and stay at the Four Seasons, and that’s a really unique thing. There are not a lot of sites that can offer that.”

Organizers are preparing for a sold-out festival and are bringing in 100 RCMP officers, private security companies from Vancouver, and a team from Toronto that has secured events for the Rolling Stones and the Pope.

“We’ve had really some great meetings with the RCMP, and we’re both on the same page,” said Bourbonnais. “We want to make sure this is a fun, safe event for everyone and it’s got to be a good environment.”

Susie Gimse, director for Area C, was a bit skeptical when Bourbonnais first pitched the idea of the festival. But she did a bit of research into Live Nation, decided they were legit, and after her first meeting with Bourbonnais, she was convinced.

“You know what really grabbed me? It became really evident quite quickly that this, for Shane, was about place and home,” said Gimse. “He lives here — it wasn’t another job — he was passionate about Pemberton and his heart was in this.”

Gimse says Bourbonnais has shown a willingness to work with the community to address concerns and issues, and is acting with the community’s best interests in mind.

Organizers have agreed to contribute $3 from every pass sold to a community trust, which will be headed by the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce. The trust will provide funding for local groups and charities.

There will even be a reduced ticket price for Pemberton residents.

“We know that Whistler is an expensive place to live, so we’re trying to help out in that area, and hopefully people take us up on the offer,” said Bourbonnais.

“The other thing is, we’re going to be putting together a huge volunteer program that we’re going to be announcing later, at the end of April, where we want people to come and volunteer, but in exchange, we’re going to let you come to the show for free.”

Live Nation has also implemented environmental initiatives into the festival, offering free parking for cars with four people and using biodegradeable plates.

Gimse also points out that local farmers will not only have an opportunity to sell their wares at the festival, but will be working together to provide much of the food served at the event.

“We are all starting to think a little bit differently with respect to our environment and climate and the reduction of greenhouse gases, so that’s a very important component,” said Gimse. “They’ve got enough acts coming that will draw a crowd, but just making that commitment to do it in a sustainable way just adds to the credibility of the organization that’s putting it on.”

Aside from the economic benefits the festival will bring to local businesses and the region as a whole, it will also be a great opportunity to test the community’s readiness for 2010.

“The one sort of unspoken benefit is, we as a community will know how we’re going to operate with large numbers of people coming to our community,” said Gimse. “It’s a great trial run, it’s a great exercise in advance of the Olympics.”

Early-bird pricing for the three-day festival is $239.50, which does not include camping, and there will be a special price of $199.50 offered to Pemberton residents.

Tickets go on sale through the festival website on March 28 at 10 a.m., and will also be available to purchase at Showcase Snowboards and Pemberton Valley Lodge.