Returning to a multi-day event, Arts on the Fly will be an event packed with performers to please all music lovers July 12-13.
Leah Martin, secretary for Arts on the Fly's board, said around 100 performers will be arriving to play in the community of Horsefly, offering up a broad range of genres.
The Arts on the Fly organization is ramping back up, with a newly redesigned website, thanks to funding from Mackay Electric Ltd., said Martin, and this will be where the schedule will be posted for festival goers to check before they head out.
Martin wanted to remind festival attendees there is no cell service or accessible wireless network at the festival, so people should bring cash and look up information in advance.
In addition to being both Friday and Saturday for 2024, the festival will also once again return to the shores of the Horsefly River as well, with first-come, first-serve camping.
"Now we're just hoping the weather lines up so we can bask in the river," said Martin.
While the event has opened back up to two days, after scaling back due to capacity and community concerns, the organizers are still limiting ticket numbers to 400 due to the smaller seating capacity of their venues.
"It should be just right," said Martin. The one thing they will still have space for is volunteers, so anyone willing to give up a few hours to help out can also earn themselves a spot inside the gate.
While the list of performers is far too long to include here, some of the acts to highlight include: Dream Heavy, a Latin, Celtic and world music-inspired group featuring members of festival touring favourites Mamaguroove; Saltwater Hank, who writes and performs blended rock and roll and traditional sounds in his Sm'algyax language which he is learning as an adult; Wax Mannequin, who plays a range of unique music with influences ranging from folk to metal, and local favourites Bats & Dao, Broken Hill Band, 13 Moons, The Screech Owls, and Moon + Cross.
Martin said she is most looking forward to dancing to Entangados, a band of musical clowns playing a mix of ska, Balkan, and other Latin rhythms. She said they are an all-ages act you can't help but get up and boogie to.
"We're excited, it's going to be a really awesome festival," she said.
Last year the event sold out, so if you haven't gotten tickets yet, they are currently available online via their website: artsontheflyfestival.wordpress.com, in person at The Open Book and The Guitar Seller in Williams Lake or at Clarke's General Store in Horsefly.
A full range of weekend, and single day tickets are available and range in price from $30 to $250 (weekend pass for a family of four).
