ELORA – Crowds of visitors and the sound of music will fill much of Elora this weekend, with the 15th annual Riverfest Elora taking place at Bissell Park from Aug. 15 to 17.
Headliners this year include Silversun Pickups on Friday night, Fitz and the Tantrums on Saturday and City and Colour on Sunday. The festival will have more than 40 performances with four stages and at after parties at the Elora Legion and the Elora Brewing Company.
It will kick off with Rivercital at 3:30pm on Friday, showcasing young talent from the Adrian Jones Music School Rock Band Camp.
On Saturday and Sunday, gates open at 1:30pm with performances from Peter Piper (Peter Hummel) playing both traditional and non-traditional music on his bagpipes at 1:55pm on the main stage each day.
There will be other local performers taking the stage, including Grae, Danny Michel, Emmett Watters, Tony McManus, The Boo Radley Project, Chris Clark, Settlers Creek Band, the J-Strokes and Drop Dead Poppies.
Performers also include Marcy Playground, Wheatus, Tune-Yards, the Philharmonik, Dear Rouge, Yukon Blonde, Tom Wilson, Michie Mee, Grae, Moontricks, Rich Aucoin, Delhi 2 Dublin and Aviv.
In addition to music throughout the weekend there will be food, alcohol and artisan vendors, as well as Yoga with Tania and Grace from 2:30 to 3:30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Riverfest Elora was founded in 2009 by Elora artist Marilyn Koop, who died in 2012. The festival began as a single-night, two-performer fundraiser for the Elora Centre for the Arts, and expanded to two nights the following year, with four performers.
In 2011, the festival moved from the Elora Centre for the Arts to Bissell Park, and by 2015 it stretched to cover three days and about 45 performers.
Tickets for this year’s festival are available at riverfestelora.com, with weekend passes for $205, Friday passes for $99, and Saturday or Sunday passes for $115, not including fees or taxes.
Tickets are discounted for seniors and teenagers, and youth 12 and under can attend for free with a paying adult. After party tickets are not included, and range from $20 to $27 per event, before fees and taxes.
