Riverfest Elora is back for its ninth year this summer with headliner MGMT.
“We’re definitely very excited about having MGMT headlining it,” said festival president and artistic director Jon Ralston in an interview with the Advertiser.
“It’s a lot bigger deal than anything we’ve ever done before. It’s a completely different level than anything we’ve done in the past.”
Other featured acts announced on April 28 are Monster Truck, Gogol Bordello, Mother Mother, Sloan, K.Flay, Hollerado and USS. Local acts to play the festival will include The Kramdens, Peter Piper, The Boo Radley Project and the Fergus Pipe band.
Riverfest is set for Aug. 18 to 20 in Bissell Park in Elora and this year the festival is upping its visual artistic elements.
“There’ll be more of the sculptor gardens,” Ralston said. “We’re going to have dancers doing interpretive dance to specific bands that are spread out all around the festival.” He said they’d be dancing individually throughout the grounds.
“They’re learning, choreographing ahead of time specifically for bands and songs of bands that we have planned,” he said.
In addition, Brad Copping’s glass canoe art exhibit will be displayed on the main stage. He’ll be paddling it down the Grand River just after noon on the Saturday of the festival.
“There’s going to be a whole bunch of paddlers that paddle with him up and down the river … it will be kind of like a parade of canoes,” Ralston explained.
“The glass, it’s cool, it’s all mirrored glass and then in between is a coloured glass and then it forms the shapes of rivers of Canada.”
Also new to the festival will be a yoga tent where sessions will be run throughout the entire weekend.
For transportation, Ralston said they have completely revamped the shuttle program.
“We’re going to be running a lot more shuttles but … mid-sized, 20-seater more luxurious shuttles as opposed to school buses,” he said. “Basically nobody in Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo or Fergus or parking around Elora, nobody will have to wait more than like 15, 20 minutes in between shuttles.”
In addition to the festival itself organizers have a surprise planned for the after party at the Elora Legion on Aug. 19.
“It’s going to be an artist that’s playing the main festival who’s going to play again at the legion but we’re not saying who it is until that day,” Ralston said.
Once again, there will be three festival stages and Ralston said many of the bigger bands will be offering signing sessions at the Dine Alone Records’ Wax On Wheels Stage.
For full lineup and ticket information visit riverfestelora.com.
