Canada’s longest continual running music festival, The Northern Lights Festival Boreal (NLFB), is set to turn 40 years old this July 8-10 and organizers report a surge in ticket sales as the weekend approaches.

“Ticket sales are picking up strongly, especially on PayPal,” Ashlyne Botelho, NLFB volunteer coordinator reported June 28. Many people from outside the community of 180,000 are purchasing tickets online. A few days later on July 4 she reported ticket outlets in Greater Sudbury selling out and requesting more from the office.

Headliners such as Broken Social Scene (Saturday night), Weakerthans (Sunday night) and Murray McLauchlan (Friday night) are creating a buzz in the community, according to the man who booked them, NLFB artistic director Paul Loewenberg.

Added to the excitement of the headliners and the other acts such as J.P. Cormier, Kevin Breit and the Sisters Euclid is the fact that NLFB will be the first city festival to appear in the newly renovated $5 million Grace Hartman Amphitheatre.

Tickets are $70 for weekend passes, $25 for Friday evening, $40 for Saturday evening and $35 for Sunday evening. Day passes are also available.

Older city residents have looked forward to the early July festival for decades, fondly recalling sitting on the grass listening to a diverse mix of music in front of them, meeting friends they have not seen for years, buying unique goods from NLFB vendors, entertaining their sons or daughters in the children’s area or checking out the latest in environmental issues in the Greenville section.

Only the Mariposa Folk Festival, in southern Ontario, can claim a longer vintage, though that festival experienced an interruption of festivities for a number of years, Ross Kelly current NLFB chair, said.

Each year hundreds of volunteers along with the board of directors and festival staff work tirelessly to make the annual event, held after the Canada Day weekend, a highlight of the year for Greater Sudbury. This year close to 200 volunteers will set up stages, tents, feed and transport the artists and ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable time.

Kelly himself volunteered many years in the beer and refreshment tent after a stint at the breakfast hospitality crew at University College Residence at Laurentian University.

Over the years the festival has been both a community celebration and main summer draw for tourism in Greater Sudbury.  Up to 12,000 spectators, artists and volunteers, including substantial out of town visitors, compliment activities at nearby Science North, boosting the city’s economy by filling hotel rooms and restaurant seats, Kelly said. The 40^th festival will be the first to use the newly $5 million renovated Grace Hartman Amphitheatre at Bell Park.

Laurentian University Let’s Talk Science and Big Brothers Big Sisters asked youth if they would like to learn about climate change and then present what they know and how they feel through the arts at the Northern Lights Festival Boreal  science educator Cathy Orlando said. Seven youth took up the challenge. In March they received initial training and since then have met seven times to prepare skits, songs and dance to share at the Festival.  

Powered by solar technology provided by David Pacey at Northern Home Energy and supported financially from a generous grant from The Sudbury Community Foundation, the youth plan to spread a message of truth and hope at the festival that will ” help our community, province, country and world shift to renewable energy”, she added.

Paul Loewenberg,  NLFB music director, said the festival began in 1972 with one stage on one day only.

Organizers took inspiration from the Mariposa Folk Festival, Loewenberg noted when designing musicians workshops for example.

Heading the original NLFB event was Murray McLaughlin. He is to headline the 2011 festival Friday night with his band Lunch at Allen’s featuring Cindy Church, Ian Thomas and Marc Jordan.

The Sunday night schedule will highlight the four decades of festival history with a selection of talent, both local and national.

Local musician and music producer, Dan Bedard, will lead a tight “house” band as part of the Sunday night festivities, Loewenberg added.

Bedard said he and his musical colleagues had performed in “dozens” of NLFB festivals over the past decades.

He said NLFB had a strong mandate to foster the creation of original music by Northern Ontario musicians.

“It was an important launching point,” Bedard said.

Participating in the festival workshops especially gave local musicians the chance to learn the business of music from the “pros”.

“You were able to jam with the professionals,” he said. “You would have lunch together and trade road stories-what this guy or that guy was like to work with.”

Tommy Fyfe, leader of the Whiskey River Blues Band, played a number of festivals over the years with his group and said the music scene locally is vibrant.

“There is no place that has more talent than Sudbury,” he said. “Everyone gets along here.”

Earlier this month, NLFB, got the nod from local business leaders.

“On behalf of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce I wish to congratulate Northern Lights Festival Boreal’s 40th anniversary,” Barbara Thibodeau, operations manager, Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce said June 2 in a letter to the organization.

“This is truly a significant milestone and is a testament to your commitment and success,” she added.

For NLFB 2011 information phone Max Merrifield, outreach and logistics coordinator, Northern Lights Festival Boreal, 705-674-5512, nlfbmarketing@gmail.com
www.nlfbsudbury.com.