De Bruces a Mi, a reggae-hip hop-R&B-World Music band from Columbia, is performing at the Kinsmen Beach Greenspace tonight for the kick-off of the Invermere MusicFest as part of their 2016 Canada tour. Photo submitted
The 2016 Invermere MusicFest is making sure it has something to offer everyone by including a Friday night dance party. Tonight (Friday, August 19th) kicks off the waterfront festival at the Kinsmen Beach Greenspace with performances from Love You Miss You, HighKicks and De Bruces a Mi.
We wanted to offer a Friday night for the locals who have to work on Saturday we also thought a dance party for the younger crowd would give them an opportunity to see what the Invermere MusicFest is all about, said festival executive director Jami Scheffer.
The dance party offers the public high energy performances in an intimate setting, giving festivalgoers a closer interaction with the bands.
The whole party will be on the Mountain Stage, which is the stage thats on the upper side of the Greenspace so its a more intimate stage with lots of connection to the band because youre right there, said Ms. Scheffer.This is the first time the Invermere MusicFest has offered a Friday night and its thanks to the organizing committees connection with the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival.
We have a relationship with the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival and what inspired Friday was the fact they have a reggae band that was playing in Salmon Arm on Thursday (the night before). So we were able to fix up a tour for them and add them to our Friday and then they go on to Calgary for the Calgary ReggaeFest, said Ms. Scheffer.
Starting the dance party off is Love You Miss You, an eight-piece band that incorporates Latin and Afrobeat traditions. Then at 7:50 p.m., HighKicks takes the stage. This duo from Calgary is a fuzz rock-inspired group. To end the night, De Bruces a Mi will perform at 9:30 p.m. this group is bringing Columbian reggae to the Mountain Stage.
The festival will then resume the following day at 12:45 p.m. with Big Eli B Blues Band starting the second day of performance, followed by six more bands, kids activities and a Saturday evening dance party with the final three bands of the festival.
If youre looking for something to do on Friday evening, make your way to Kinsmen Beach and grab a drink and some food from one of the four food trucks on hand. Prepare yourself for an evening of music diversity with the three dance party performances. Full weekend festival passes are $60 and tickets for the dance party are $30 and can be purchased at the gate or online at www.invermeremusicfest.com.
