Copyright 2000 by Edward Willett

If you love free live music (and who doesn't?) then this is the biggest weekend of the summer.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 7-9, the Flatland Music Festival invades Victoria Park, bringing 43 of Saskatchewan's best recording artists to the stage--and you don't have to pay a cent to listen.

Marian Donnelly, executive director of the Saskatchewan Recording Industry Association, which started the Flatland Music Festival five years ago, says organizers expect between 25,000 and 30,000 people to turn out. "It all depends on the weather," she says, adding that it's no coincidence the festival runs the same weekend as the Moose Jaw Air Show: over three decades, the Air Show has hardly ever been rained out. "We're sticking with them," Donnelly says.

What kinds of music will you hear? Everything from pop to hard rock to ska to gospel to folk to country to world music. There's a scientist/guitarist who sings songs about the water cycle, there's a gospel choir from Saskatoon, there's a hit band who sings mainly in Greek, there's a trio of teenagers who perform "alternative crush rock."

Amazingly enough, of the more than 40 individuals and bands that will be performing, only six have ever appeared on the Flatland Music Festival stages before--proof of just how vibrant the music scene is in Saskatchewan.

The process of choosing the bands begins in December when applications are sent out, Donnelly says. The deadline for applying is the end of March; at that time, a jury goes through the packages the performers have submitted, and grade the applications on criteria ranging from when their album was released (if they've released one) to musicianship to whether they've played the Flatland Festival before. Once the jury has picked out the best candidates for the festival, organizers then take a look at the genres of music represented. "We try to give it a real cross-section," Donnelly says.

If you're surprised there are more than 100 recording artists in Saskatchewan, you shouldn't be, Donnelly says. "I think the recording industry internationally has just been growing because of how much technology has changed," she says. "In the old days--the 1970s--you had to be signed to a major record company in order to finance that $100,000 or $200,000 recording. Back then in Saskatchewan there was Streetheart and Queen City Kids, and that was it. Now you can easily afford to make a recording using the latest computer technology. You can make a record for $10,000 or $20,000."

What sets apart the artists in Saskatchewan, Donnelly says, is their work ethic. "Most of our artists have a better work ethic than what I've seen in Toronto or Vancouver, just because we are not near an industry centre. Most of our bands realize they'll have to work just a little bit harder to develop their audience and achieve that level of exposure that they need to sell records. We see bands developing business plans, putting together tours, with a much more entrepreunurial spirit than bands in Toronto, which just hang around waiting to be noticed."

Being noticed is, of course, what performing at the Flatland Music Festival is all about. The performers in the festival find themselves in the public spotlight far more than they can hope for performing on the club circuit.

As the Flatland Music Festival Web site puts it, "There are few venues in which original music groups and artists can perform their material for an all-ages audience. It is difficult for the average consumer to find and purchase independent artists' products in regular retail outlets. The Flatland Music Festival puts these groups on stage in a beautiful outdoor environment." Last year more than $6,500 worth of recordings by the various performers were sold, proof that people are liking what they're hearing.

More than just CDs are for sale, too. Visual artists, craftmakers, and food vendors will all be on hand. The Saskatchewan Publishers Group will be there, promoting Saskatchewan books. Globe Theatre will be on hand to promote next year's season and the Lanterns on the Lake Festival. On Saturday morning you can visit the Farmers' Market while you listen to the music, and on Sunday morning you can view a street full of classic Volkswagens.

Putting together a festival of this size, especially one with no admission charge, requires a lot of volunteers. "It's not unusual to see someone selling you a beer ticket one day up on stage the next," Donnelly says. "Because it's a free festival we encourage the bands to help out. Most of them contribute. The rest of the volunteers are just people from the community who enjoy this kind of event."

Obviously you need to actually go to Victoria Park to enjoy the full flavor of the Flatland Music Festival, but if for some reason you're stuck at your desk, don't despair; for the second year in a row, the festival will be broadcast in RealAudio format on the festival Web site, at www.flatlandmusic.com.

If you can make it down in person, though, you're in for a treat. "People are amazed they can just come down, enjoy music, have a hot dog, have a beer," Donnelly says. "It has a really nice feeling to it."

Who knows? You may just discover your favorite band of all time--right here in Saskatchewan, on a sunny afternoon in the park.

Posted March 9, 2004