Cycling fans will get a chance to celebrate the final leg of the Tour of Alberta in Okotoks and a local musician will help set the scene for the festivities.
Maddison Krebs, an up and coming Okotoks singer-songwriter, will cap off a pre-race festival at the Seaman Stadium on the morning of Sept. 8
She said it’s an incredible opportunity to perform at a major event like the Tour of Alberta just as she is kicking off her singing career.
“It’s an honour to be a part of this,” said Krebs. “It’s lots of exposure, lots of exposure that’s what I really need right now.”
The day’s events will start with a pancake breakfast from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the festival area at the stadium with vendors and family entertainment.
Opening for Krebs will be a performance by First Nations dance troupe Thundering Nations.
Krebs is no stranger to singing at the stadium. Okotoks Dawg fans have probably heard her sing “O Canada” a few times over the years.
She has come a long way in the past couple years, honing her skills as a member of the Young Canadians. Her performance caps off a busy summer of a performing and making to the semi-finals of the Stampede talent search.
“I was just at the Big Valley Jamboree, I performed there, I’ve been doing a lot of gigs here and there and at the Calgary Stampede,” said Krebs.
Following a 45 minute set of songs from her EP release “Your True Love” some of the best professional cycling teams in the world from as many as 20 different countries will set out from Okotoks in the final leg of Alberta’s first ever major cycling race.
The race will start in Edmonton on Sept. 3 with segments that will include Camrose, Red Deer and Drumheller. The entire fourth leg will take place in the foothills on Sept. 7, starting in Black Diamond, heading northwest towards Bragg Creek before heading back to Black Diamond.
Seaman Stadium is the starting point in the fifth and final leg of the 900 km race and is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Riders will pass through Okotoks along North Railway through the Olde Towne area before heading west on Secondary Highway 549.
The race will begin in earnest when the riders leave Okotoks.
“When they leave the stadium they’re not in race mode until they get out on 549 and then they kick it into Bragg Creek and the final finish in Calgary,” said Mark Doherty, Okotoks community events co-ordinator.
There’s also lots of fun planned in the days leading up to the race.
Okotoks businesses will face off at a corporate challenge on Sept. 4 for light-hearted events, including tricycle races, at the Okotoks Recreation Centre from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
On Sept. 7, the Okotoks Kinsmen Children’s Bicycle Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the recreation centre. The event will feature clinics on properly fitting bikes and helmets for children, basic maintenance and road safety lessons.
The event will include a free barbecue and Ridley’s Cycle will give away a free children’s bike.
The Okotoks Agricultural Society will host a concert with Doc Walker, Emerson Drive and Carolyn Dawn Johnson that evening from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are available at 403-938-3256 for $110.
