Festival Fundraiser

Fredericton’s Living Roots Music Festival to host fundraiser in support of 2017 event.

The organizers of Fredericton’s Living Roots Music Festival are planning a fundraiser in support of next year’s event. A full evening of live music will take place Saturday December 30 at Grimross Brewing Company along with a silent auction with all the proceeds from the evening going to support of the 2017 festival.

“We’re going into our second year of the Living Roots Music Festival happening May 25-27, 2017,” said festival founder Eddie Young. “Last year was our first year. We had 31 acts from across Canada in seven different venues around town.”

“Our fundraiser will take place the Friday before New Years and it will be an early show with music starting at 6 p.m.,” he said. “There will be nine acts playing and we’re going to squeeze them all into that time with 20-30 minute sets through until midnight with Free To Grow closing off the evening with a full hour of music. We’ll also be running a silent auction with everything from $5 items to $1000 items for people to bid on so there’s something for everybody.”

Last year’s festival mixed performances in established venues with a series of intimate house concerts, something Young sees as an important element to the festival’s identity.

“We’re really trying to keep it a grassroots festival with intimate venues, no corporate sponsors and involving all kinds of local businesses. One of the things I try to do with Living Roots is to bring musicians you could see in a large venue into a house and give a small audience a one of a kind performance.”

The festival’s first year included performances by several notable New Brunswick folk-based acts like The Backyard Devils, Hum & Hollow and Richie Young as well as a number of musicians from across the country including blues guitarist Roxanne Potvin and roots balladeer Zachary Lucky.

Despite a few expected setbacks, Young remains inspired by the interest the festival garnered and planning for the 2017 event is now underway.

“Last year was pretty much what I expected,” he said. “We had some great shows and we had some shows that weren’t so great but we learned a lot and it went well enough that we’re able to go at it again for a second year.”