Dates July - August | Years active 2007 - present | |
Genre Classic rock, Indie rock, Jam bands, Folk, Alternative rock, Funk rock, Ska Location(s) Oakbank, Manitoba, CA, Sokal Farm | ||
GrapeVinyl's Love Fest in an annual independent music festival created and produced by GrapeVinyl Records. First held in 2007, the festival is a single day event showcasing local bands from Winnipeg, Manitoba at the Sokal Farm just North of Oakbank, Manitoba. The festival features many different styles of music including indie rock, classic rock, funk, ska, and country music. Since the inaugural Love Fest, it has grown quite significantly from featuring three bands in the first year to five in the second year.
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Tent Party Jam and Love Fest
Love Fest began in 2007 as a rural party called Tent Party Jam and was the brain child of GrapeVinyl co-founder Griffin Sokal. Tent Party Jam was held in July and featured two bands that were friends of Sokal's, The Experiences and The Ruffigans who played in the garage as there was no stage. In August of that year, the first official Love Fest took place showcasing again The Experiences, The Ruffigans and this time The Moon Room Peep Show as well. The festival finished with all the musicians on stage and the whole crowd playing and singing along to an extended rendition of The Beatles Hey Jude. The attendance for the first Love Fest was an estimated two hundred people with free admittance.
Don't Hate, Love Fest '08
In 2008 Love Fest grew to a greater scale featuring five bands with a ten dollar ticket price for admission. Don't Hate, Love Fest '08 was the slogan for that year and was featured on all the tickets and banner. The event was undertaken by the newly formed GrapeVinyl Records, run by Griffin Sokal, Jared Adams, Jesse Millar and Logan McCort. On July 4, 2008, Love Fest yet again featured The Experiences and The Ruffigans with Astronaut Jones and the Dirty Sweethearts, Gary Gach and the Banned and The Monty Yanks making their Love Fest debut. The festival went until roughly five in the morning with the final band, The Experiences not going on until 2:30 AM. Notable events of the 2008 Love Fest are Astronaut Jones' two-hour-long set that delayed the festival, the super jam rendition of Meat Loaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light by The Ruffigans featuring Jennifer Bihun and Jesse Millar of The Experiences and the amazing fireworks show. The attendance for the 2008 Love Fest was an estimated three hundred people.
Love Fest '09, The '69 Rewind
In 2009 the GrapeVinyl crew hoped to recreate the feel of Woodstock with it being the 40th anniversary of the renowned festival. Much more preparation was put into the festival this time. There was to be a full stage with a giant mural painted with a sparkling sun and the 2009 logo for the back drop. A sound system was to be rented from an acquaintance of Millar's that would be top of the line with all the bells and whistles. Tickets also went up in price to twenty dollars each. Set to headline the festival was SubCity Dwellers with eight other bands playing throughout the day. There was also going to be a pancake breakfast at 11 AM as the first band, The Playing Cards went on at noon. Also a food vendor and a fireworks show had been scheduled for the date. However on June 27, 2009, the date of the festival, a terrible thunder storm hit Winnipeg and flooded the site, forcing GrapeVinyl to reschedule. A makeshift roof was built for the stage but there was simply too much water for the festival to go on.
The date was rescheduled for August 22, 2009, one week after the original Woodstock took place. Most bands were able to reconfirm for the festival including SubCity Dwellers, the headlining act. This time a stage that is much more weather proof was constructed even though the weather turned out to be sunny and hot. The evening started with The Shouting Ground rocking out their funky tunes and an awesome cover of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. Next was the Matt Ward Band followed by The MacLean Bros., Gary Gach and the Banned and then SubCity. Closing the evening was James and the Giants with their set spectacular set of 1960s cover songs. The estimated attendance for the 2009 Love Fest was two hundred people.
General Love Fest Info
Love Fest is a camping festival where people can stay the night as the bands usually play until the early hours of the morning. It is also accepted that Love Fest is a BYOB festival and driving after is not recommended. GrapeVinyl promotes carpooling to Love Fest so as to preserve our environment. Each year GrapeVinyl also gives a portion of the profit from ticket sales to charity.
Love Fest 2007
Love Fest 2008
Love Fest 2009
Bands that were unable to reschedule: