An army of red-shirted volunteers took over King’s Park on Friday, scurrying around to set up the grounds for Rock The Peach music festival.
In between helping volunteers get organized, Rock The Peach music entertainment co-ordinator Kate English offered a few pointers for those attending this weekend.
“For me, when I go to a festival I like to wear something special and fun. I like to make sure I have a backpack or fanny pack to keep my sunscreen and other things in. I think people should come and be prepared to have a lot of fun.”
Concert-goers can bring bags into the venue, but English warned it will get searched at the doors.
“It is just to keep everybody safe, so the less weird cluttery stuff in your bag the better for getting through security quicker,” said English.
In your bag she suggests carrying a camera, sunscreen and maybe a bottle of water, which must be sealed or it will be thrown out. The entire festival is general admission, so Rock The Peach organizers suggest bringing lawn chairs or a blanket to make yourself more comfortable. Daily schedules will be available at the info booth when concert-goers walk in the entrance.
“It is a family-friendly event so everyone just has to remember to be respectful of one another and use their common sense,” said English.
That includes having some patience.
“The main gate is on the parking lot side and it might take some time to get through. I have known people that waited 26 hours to get into a festival in a hot car in a parking lot. I would suggest come in the morning to the box office, get your ticket and go do some fun things around the city like floating the channel or go to the market. If you have a ticket you will get processed faster,” said English.
“I am super excited about the local fringe performers, we have the breakdance group Dream High Crew and the Bahiti belly dancers. Both will put on a good show,” she said. “It’s really great for them because now they can say they performed at this festival and hopefully get more gigs.”
Other unique fringe performers include Myth Makers who will be there all three days wearing costumes, standing on stilts and doing fire dances. Djs will be under the tents to keep people entertained between the main stage performances and Kumbana Marimba, a 10-piece band, will be there Saturday and Sunday.
Just for kids
If you have kids coming to Rock The Peach, a special area has been designed just for them to do crafts, get their faces painted and more. A bouncy castle and waterslide will also be at the kids’ section at no charge.
“It will have a shade tent, a teepee to read books in because sometimes kids need some quiet time when it’s super busy,” said English.
Concert-goers will no doubt build up an appetite dancing and enjoying all the events and Rock The Peach has ensured there will be plenty of food choices.
“There is food from basically all over the world,” said English.
Over 70 vendors, from food to crafts, will be in the marketplace. Everything from mini donuts, Jeffers Fryzz, Tickleberry’s to Greek food, Thai choices, barbecue, crepes and chicken wings will be available. A licensed refreshment area called The Peach Pit will be the only place to purchase alcohol, other than the VIP access licensed refreshment area called The Glow Haven.
How to get there
Parking is available at the South Okanagan Events Centre as well as the Okanagan College Campus, but it is limited. Rock The Peach organizers encourage people to take advantage of the shuttle buses, walk or ride your bike to the festival.
Shuttle buses will be running from 2:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and from noon to 2 p.m., 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday at a cost of $5 for the entire weekend.
Pickup points for the Skaha Lake route are Lakeside Villa Motel, Sudbury Beach parking lot, Barley Mill and Kings Park. For the Okanagan Lake route they are the Ramada, Tiki Shores, Penticton Lakeside Resort, The Mule , Best Damn Sports Bar and Kings Park.
Music Schedule
Gates open at 3:30 p.m. to the festival on Friday and the Malibu Knights will kick things off at 4:30 p.m. followed by the Steadies at 6:15 p.m., Jets Overhead at 8 p.m. and Collective Soul at 9:45 p.m. On Saturday the gates open at 1 p.m. with Good for Grapes kicking things off at 1:40 p.m., Andrew Allen at 2:50 p.m., Ridley Bent at 4 p.m., Three Dog Night at 5:30 p.m., War at 7:25 p.m. and Sam Roberts Band at 9:25 p.m. On Sunday gates also open at 1 p.m. with Redfish taking the stage at 1:40 p.m., Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at 2:50 p.m., Walk Off The Earth at 4 p.m., Glass Tiger at 5:30 p.m., Jesse Cook at 7:25 p.m. and Ronnie Dunn will close the weekend out with a main stage performance at 9:25 p.m.
“There are some bands doing autographs so people can bring whatever they want to get signed and in the merchandise tent is where the bands who want to do signings will be. A large portion of them will be there shortly after they perform,” said English.