This year Big Valley Jamboree celebrates the big 2-0. Yes, for the last two decades the music festival has developed a sterling reputation for importing the best country entertainers on the continent.
In appreciation for their big rural fan base, jamboree organizers have unveiled Small Town Saturday Night, a project that will bring a musical showcase to one lucky community on Saturday, April 28.
The showcase includes a full day of events including a Song Writer’s Circle hosted by Aaron Lines and an evening concert featuring headline country singer Dean Brody.
Any small town in Alberta with a population base of fewer than 20,000 people can be selected by organizers to host their own mini-j Big Valley Jamboree while earning money for a local charity or non-profit organization.
All fans have to do is submit a two-minute video that showcases the best of the town and shows why they are the ideal locale to host a mini-jamboree.
“For any community, it’s important to be creative and sell the positive points. Show the highlights and tell a story as to why people would want to visit your community. This is a huge tourism boost and a positive way to say you want to be part of Small Town Saturday Night. You are only limited by your imagination,” says Big Valley Jamboree producer Larry Werner.
Not only will the town receive any revenue generated from concert ticket sales, but they will also win an additional cash prize of $5,000.
The idea developed when Werner and a few cohorts were throwing around concepts for a promotion. A suggestion was tossed in the ring to host an event similarly based on CBC’s Hockeyville, where the network searched for the country’s most passionate hockey communities.
Travel Alberta was searching for a promotional tie-in to rural communities.
“All of sudden it started to mushroom on us and it became a joint project.”
Judges will narrow the entries down to five videos. They will be uploaded online and the voting public selects the winner.
The deadline to apply is Friday, March 2. Full details are on www.bigvalleyjamboree.com/stsn.
