There will be some blues wailing as a popular Vernon Winter Carnival event is about to go out on a high note.
The Vernon Winter Carnival Blues Festival is celebrating its eighth and final year as a carnival event, Feb. 11 at the Vernon Recreation Centre auditorium.
“After seven years of promoting and supporting live entertainment, this will be our last hurrah for the Vernon Winter Carnival Blues Festival,” said festival organizer Cat Wells, who is also a blues vocalist. “I have loved every moment and want to thank our generous sponsors, our talented local artists and, of course, all the blues lovers out there.”
Tickets holders can dust off their dancing shoes and are encouraged to dress in their Canadian best to celebrate the Carnival theme of Canada’s 150th birthday.
“Our eighth and final festival is jam packed with homegrown talent,” said Wells. “The lineup includes a fairly new collection of seasoned and talented musicians from the Golden area going by the name Smokin’ Ray and the Detectors, the sultry jazz/blues vocals of Kath Raeber with her band Kath and the TomKats from out Lavington way, and the ever popular Kelowna blues man Sherman ‘The Tank’ Doucette and his Tankful of Blues.”
Also performing is Wells, with her Kelowna-Vernon based band the Voodoo Daddies. Early birds will also enjoy a solo performance by Juanita Zwick.
“Come dressed in your Canadian best to help celebrate Canada 150 and perhaps win a prize and join us on the largest dance floor in Vernon,” said Wells. “We are looking forward to this being the best festival yet and hope to have a record breaking turnout.”
Doors to the Rec Centre auditorium open at 7 p.m., with food vendors on site and an indoor mini marketplace. Music goes from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Tickets are available now at the Vernon Winter Carnival Office, the East Side Liquor Co. and at Back to Earth on Highway 6 in Lavington. They can also be reserved online at www.vernonwintercarnival.com or by calling 250-545-2236