Shoreline Media Inc., a New York-based destination entertainment, marketing and production company, has signed on to produce a summer music concert series for Tourism Whistler’s annual Whistler Music and Arts Festival starting this summer and continuing through 2010.
The family festival takes place July 22-24 this year and will feature a new concert series at Base II on Blackcomb Mountain with afternoon and evening performances on the Saturday and Sunday during the festival.
The festival debuted last summer as the Whistler Arts and Music Festival. This year’s name change reflects a new focus on music, represented by the concert series, Tourism Whistler festival and events manager Paula Mohammed said.
Shoreline President and founder Christopher Shields said in an e-mail that the company was introduced to Tourism Whistler "via our Olympic relationship with the World Olympians Association and the Festival of the Olympians; and (Olympic/Tourism Whistler) sponsor VISA."
Shields said Shoreline began discussions with Tourism Whistler in January, which concluded this May resulting in an "exciting Festival agenda extending from 2006-2010."
The company is currently working with the Torino Olympic Games, and has produced festivals in a variety of world-class destinations including Newport, Telluride, Montreaux and Umbria.
"Whistler is a simply beautiful and special location for such an event, and we are looking forward to building the Festival into one of the international Greats," Shields said.
While president of Paradise Entertainment, Shields produced events featuring megastars Garth Brooks, Madonna and Janet Jackson.
The lineup for this year’s Whistler Music and Arts Festival was not available at press time. With a relatively brief window of time to work on this year’s music lineup, the concert series is at the whim of performers’ schedules, meaning next summer will be the first true reflection of Shoreline’s vision for the Whistler event.
Mohammed said the concerts will stay in line with the family-friendly vibe the festival as a whole is putting forth, and that they are "aiming for acts that would support parents and kids going up the mountain with a picnic and a blanket and hanging out for a few hours."
"It’s purposefully trying to not be a jazz festival or a folk festival," Mohammed said. "We’re definitely keeping it open."
Last year’s festival music was performed on a series of stages on the Village Stroll.
In August, Vancouver-based Shout Resort Concerts staged a large-scale Faith Hill concert at Base II. Shout president Dennis MacDonald has confirmed the company plans to stage another event in Whistler this summer.
