After a trying 18 months, Foothills music fans will get to kick up the dust and let their hair down at the Okotoks Ag Society grounds,
The society will host a fundraiser concert on Aug. 13 in hopes of making up for lost time
“We’re coming out of post-COVID and trying to put some events together hopefully people will enjoy, to try and get people back to a little bit of normal with their friends and family,” said Dean Thomson, organizer. “And hopefully a bit of a fundraiser for us as well.”
Held in the society’s indoor arena, the event is sure to give concert-goers a true country experience, with acts Over the Moon, the Travelling Mabels, and the Blake Reid Band set to take the stage.
The concert will mark the first full-scale event the society has hosted since the start of the pandemic. One recent blow was the society’s attempt to hold a Christmas market.
Days before the market was set to open, the enhanced restrictions of December were enacted.
“You get a little bit disheartened after a while, but you keep slugging,” Thomson said.
Joan Weder, society president, echoed the impact the pandemic has had on financial stability.
“This is a fundraiser that we need to have,” Weder said. “Things have not been good to us since COVID started.”
Having shut down from March to June of 2020, with the roller-coaster of changing regulations that followed, Weder said the limited amount of events it could run has had a lasting effect on the society. .
“We lost a lot of rentals, we lost a lot of our events because it was too many people,” she said, adding horseback riding was the only activity that could occur through most of the pandemic, and in limited numbers.
While society members pay an annual fee, Weder pointed out, membership fees alone do not cover the various expenses of maintaining the facility.
The concert, Weder said, will hopefully help the society find its way back to stability.
“I think it’s wonderful to have this, because people are looking for something—we haven’t had any concerts or music going on for a long time,” she said.
“It’s going to be a nice time for everybody and good music and we got some food trucks.”
Her hope is the general public and society members alike will turn out to support the organization, which hosts various community groups such as 4-H and Future Cowboys.
“I just think it would be nice for people to come out and listen to some really good music, and to help the ag society out,” she said.
There will be a licensed bar, as well as food trucks and a mini dougnut stand.
As the riding arena floor is comprised of sand, Weder recommends patrons wear boots or shoes.
The concert takes place on Aug. 13 in the Trains Landscaping Agriplex. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and music starts at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $40 and on sale at Okotoks Sobeys, Blue Rock Gallery in Black Diamond, or online at www.OkotoksAg.com
