Radius Rhythms and Riffs festival returns

By Steve Hubrecht

Radius Rhythms and Riffs is back.

The new community and music festival launched last year and was a huge success. Organizers are now set for the second edition of the event and have expanded its scope.

“The intention for this festival is to showcase local original music from the East Kootenay region,” organizer Patrick Carrick told the Pioneer.

“We want to be able to give a platform to those musicians who work hard to create their own music, but who don’t often get opportunities to play in front of large audiences,” explained Carrick. He pointed out there is definitely a thriving music scene in the Columbia Valley and across the East Kootenay, but that many of the gigs — particularly for events such as weddings and parties — often go to either cover bands or to well-established bands. There’s nothing wrong with that, he outlined, “but we just want to give a chance for other bands to shine … sometimes when you’re a smaller musician without a big following, it can be hard to get those chances.”

This year’s Rhythms and Riffs features bands from Edgewater, Canal Flats, Invermere, Radium Hot Springs, Golden, Cranbrook and Creston. The lineup includes headliners Tryg Strand and the Band, Half Spent, Maddison, Nathan Turner Trio, Oh November, Kevin Olson, The Prospectres, Wilson and the Disilludes, Slone Leman, Carl Les, Noah and Sam, and Combo Akimbo.

The bands encompass an eclectic, diverse range of genres, but all are family friendly, said Carrick, adding “there’s country, indie rock, funk, blues — something for everyone.”

The first Rhythms and Riffs drew more than 500 people to Radius Retreat, just north of Radium Hot Springs.

“It was a raging success,” said Carrick, adding there were plenty of visitors at last year’s festival, but also plenty of Columbia Valley locals.

“In that sense it really did feel like a community festival,” he said. “It seemed like a chance for people to catch up after a long winter, and to embrace the changing of the seasons.”

Carrick and other organizers are hoping to attract even more attendees this year.

Aside from the bands there is a family fun zone with bouncy castles, inflatable attractions, and games for kids; vendors; food trucks; craft beer, and the natural surroundings of Radius Retreat, which cover more than 1,000 acres.

This year’s festival is on Saturday, May 3 from 1 to 8 p.m. Given how many people turned out last year, and the fact that the retreat parking lot will be converted into the family fun zone, there will be shuttles to and from the festival, running between Radius Retreat and Radium and Invermere. Visit www.radiusretreat.com/rhythms-riffs.