Wide Skies music fest kicking off downtown

By Al Beeber on July 26, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The music will be spreading across the sky when the Wide Skies Music Festival hits the stage on two consecutive upcoming Wednesdays.

Sponsored by the Geomatic Attic, the first night of the festival runs Wednesday and the second on Aug. 3 at different venues.

The opening night will be staged on the top floor of the Lethbridge Park N Ride building downtown at 705 5 Ave. S.

The second event will run in the west parking lot of the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge on Scenic Drive S.

Wednesday’s show kicks off at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7:15. Tickets are by donation but guests can register in advance due to limited seating capacity of 450.

The featured performer will be Reuben & The Dark with The Bullhorn Singers.

The Aug. 3 performance starts at 6 p.m. with gates opening at 5:15.

Again, music fans need to register in advance. Admission is free but donations will be accepted. Acts include Kobo Town, Blue & Gold featuring Ndidi and Trish Klein and Alameda.

Last year was the first for the rooftop event and Geomatic Attic’s Mike Spencer said Thursday “I think we proved last year that it can work. It’s stunning when you’re up at the top, there’s great views of the city and surrounding area. There’s just a really cool vibe to it that I think people really picked up on last year,” said Spencer.

The 2021 rooftop event was a hybrid form of the Wide Skies Festival that ran on 11 St. downtown and so it was called Wide Skies Reimagined.

This year’s is a further hybrid as well, said Spencer.

“There’s still some things of concern COVID-wise and we didn’t feel completely confident going back to the 11th Street situation that we had for three years,” said Spencer adding he thinks the festival will go back there at some point.

“We’re sort of constantly exploring different ways to be in the downtown area,” he added.

The Lethbridge Lodge has talked about the idea of doing an outdoor event in their parking lot “and I decided to approach them this year and they’re really enthusiastic about it.”

The venue will provide music-goers not only with great music but also showcase scenery behind it including the High Level bridge and coulees.

He said that venue and the rooftop show “could put Lethbridge on the map.”

The rooftop headliner is originally from Calgary but is now based in the U.S. and tours globally extensively, said Spencer.

Kobo Town is a Toronto-based outfit that does reggae and calypso music which Spencer calls danceable.

A beer garden and food offerings will be available at both venues.

Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter