Voyageur Days plans to bring back Sunday night shows, daily passes

Mattawa is already gearing up for the next Voyageur Days weekend. This past summer marked the event’s 25th anniversary, and the theme was “Giving Back,” a gesture to show appreciation for the town and the fans for two and a half decades of support.

However, the town spent “an additional $43,000” for this year’s festival, noted Paul Laperriere, Mattawa’s interim Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in a recent report to council. “And while that was well received, it is not sustainable,” he added.

With the “Giving Back” festival now in the rearview, this year’s theme is the “Next 25 Years,” with focus on “how Mattawa Voyageur Days needs to adapt and position itself to meet the interest of the next generation,” the CAO explained.

See: Voyageur Days announces headliners for 25th anniversary event

Lapierre noted that “classic rock will always be part of our lives and certainly the heartbeat of Voyageur Days’ first 25 years. The reality, however, is that the musical landscape changes with each generation and any successful festival needs to change too, so as to meet the expectations of the new venue goers.”

With that in mind, the town is already looking for bands to sign for the show, to get ahead of the game for the busy summer season. The plan is to also bring back Sunday night shows. After speaking with fans, “there appears to be an overwhelming consensus to bring back Sunday night performances,” Laperriere said.

See: Mattawa Voyageur Days in the red, but the show goes on 

This year’s headlining acts were the James Barker Band and Our Lady Peace. The total cost for all bands at this year’s festival was $240,000. Adding a Sunday night show will cut deeper into the proposed $480,000 budget, but the additional night will bring in extra revenue.

“We are working on bringing fresh talent,” Laperriere said, noting that “top bands” like Bryan Adams or Nickelback are “out of our price range” as those acts can cost around the "$1 million per concert" range.

“We are looking at popular acts in both country and rock including tribute bands,” Laperriere noted. “Our goal is to sign a few bands now and start to immediately sell wristbands.” The plan this year is to also offer single day wristbands. This year, a person could only buy a wristband for both days.

The town is also looking into bringing back the midway, “which would replace events like the circus, the inflatables, and the Science North Exhibit,” which would reduce overall costs.

Vendors will be back, the CAO noted, and an emphasis will be placed on increasing food options as well. However, at this time, the town is looking into signing bands, because as Laperriere emphasized, “the success of a music festival rests with the quality of its musical acts.”

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.