Every year Harvest offers a plethora of free musical performances on stages located throughout the festival footprint. Once again the festival will present 4 free stages in downtown Fredericton within the Taylor Printing Street Experience along with a free ANBL Safe Ride program to get patrons to and from the festival safely.
“High quality, free programming is part of Harvest’s DNA,” says to Mike Comeau, chair of the Festival. “We are committed to making Harvest accessible to everyone in our community, whether you’re eight or eighty. Part of that is tickets starting at prices as low as $10. But free concerts are huge. They’ve been a part of the Harvest tradition for 26 years now.”
Each free stage will present its own distinctive offerings.
On Wednesday and Thursday of the Festival, the King’s Place Stage will present free lunch time shows at 12pm featuring Maggie’s Farm Revival and Matchstick Mike & The Chain Smoking Altar Boys.
The Fredericton’s Own Stage, in front of City Hall, will feature the best of Fredericton’s up and coming talent at 6:45pm Friday and Saturday of the Festival. Friday night will feature performances by David in the Dark, Property, and Varas, and on Saturday night Heat and Lights, Tokyo Valentine, and Rosewood Groove will take the stage.
The Siemens Acoustic Stage on Queen Street will offer patrons an unplugged experience on Friday night with LeeBoy and Shrimp Daddy and on Saturday night with LeeBoy, Keith Hallett and Brent Mason.
Harvest’s Stingray Rising Star showcase will take place Friday afternoon at the Stingray Barracks tent. This free event will feature performances by the four finalists. At the end of the showcase, the 2016 Stingray Rising Star will be selected. The 2016 Stingray Rising Star will then open for Stephen Lewis & After Funk later that evening in the Barracks. Saturday’s free concert moves over to the Stingray Barracks Tent this year for some Lawnchair Blues starting at 2pm and featuring Steve Marriner, Ross Neilsen and Mark Green.
On Saturday, the Congo Square family experience will begin at 11am with kid-friendly performances by Scotty & the Stars, Blues in the Schools Musician & Clinician Samuel James, and MarchFourth!.
The Daily Gleaner Stage in Officers’ Square will close the festival on Sunday starting at 1pm with performances by Brandon Niederauer “Taz”, STU Jazz and MarchFourth!.
In addition, Festival goers will find performance buskers, food and artisan vendors, and a crafts fair located throughout the Taylor Printing Street Experience.
In addition to the free stages, Harvest also offers a free concert in one of its main venues. This year, Fredericton’s Hypochondriacs play the Moose Light Blues Tent on Wednesday at 6:30pm.
Once again in partnership with ANBL the festival will offer a free safe ride programming. The ANBL Safe Ride runs Thursday-Saturday of the Festival, with stops at most major Fredericton hotels as well as several businesses at key pick up and drop off locations throughout neighbourhoods on both sides of the river. The buses bring Festival-goers downtown, right at the heart of the Festival grounds.
“This is about convenience for our patrons, but also about easing congestion downtown during the Festival. The more people who take advantage of the ANBL Safe Ride program, the better the whole traffic situation will be downtown,” said Comeau.
“Alcool NB Liquor is very proud to be a partner in such a great festival and give back to the community with a free ride to and from concert venues around Fredericton” says Brian Harriman President & CEO of ANBL. “Supporting people in making smart choices about responsible use of alcohol is something we are very passionate about at ANBL.”
There are four routes on the free ANBL Safe Ride—two that focus on South Side hotels and businesses with buses running every 30 minutes, a bus that runs direct from the Delta Hotel to downtown every 20 minutes, and a North Side Route, with stops at the Devon ANBL, the Brookside Mall ANBL, and the Main Street Superstore running every 30 minutes.
A full ANBL Safe Ride Schedule can be found on the Harvest website at harvestmusicfest.ca/about/safe-ride
Here is a breakdown of all free stage performances:
WEDNESDAY
12pm, King’s Place Stage, Maggie’s Farm Revival
7pm, Moose Light Blues Tent, the Hypochondriacs
THURSDAY
12pm King’s Place Stage, Matchstick Mike & The Chain Smoking Altar Boys
FRIDAY
2pm, Stingray Barracks Tent, Stingray Rising Stars Showcase
6:30pm, Siemens Acoustic Stage, LeeBoy, Shrimp Daddy
6:45pm, Fredericton’s Own Stage, David in the Dark, Property and Varas
SATURDAY
11am, Officers’ Square, Congo Square (Scotty & the Stars, Blues in the Schools with Samuel James, MarchFourth!)
2pm, Stingray Barracks Tent, Steve Marriner, Ross Neilsen, Mark Green
2pm, Fredericton’s Own Stage, FHS Jazz Ensemble, George Street Jazz Band
4:45pm, Fredericton’s Own Stage, Heat and Lights, Tokyo Valentine, Rosewood Groove
5:30pm, Siemens Acoustic Stage, LeeBoy, Keith Hallett, Brent Mason
SUNDAY
1pm, Daily Gleaner Officers’ Square Stage, Brandon Niederauer “Taz”, STU Jazz, MarchFourth!