VANCOUVER, B.C. -
With a population of just 2,200, Pemberton, B.C. is not the sort of place that you would expect to see some of the biggest names in the music industry.
But four weeks from now, this quiet farming community will be shaking to the sounds of Jay-Z, Coldplay, and Tom Petty, the headline acts in the three-day music festival from July 25 to 27.
Located in a scenic valley about two hours north of Vancouver, Pemberton is usually overshadowed by the Whistler ski resort, which is 30 kilometres further south.
But concert organizers decided it would be the perfect venue for an event that is being modeled on multi-day festivals popular in Europe, such as England's legendary Glastonbury Festival.
It is expected to attract 40,000 music fans willing to cough up $260 for a festival ticket.
"We think it's probably one of the most beautiful places in North America," said Shane Bourbonnais, President of touring and business development for L.A.-based event promoter Live Nation.
"It's very dramatic (with Mount Currie in the background), the scenery is beautiful, the community has been from day one very supportive, and played a really great role and that's been a great thing."
To keep a close eye on the preparations, Bourbonnais has taken up temporary residence in Pemberton.
Bourbonnais says there have been very few similar festivals held in North America, citing Bonnarro in Manchester, Tenn. and Coachella, near Palm Springs, Calif., as the only comparable examples.
The Pemberton festival is expected to attract concert goers from across Canada, as well as the U.S. and Europe.
And if it comes off without any major hitches, Bourbonnais hopes to make it an annual event.
Logistics and eco-friendly planning
Planning began in September 2007 with a traffic feasibility study and approval of a traffic management plan from the Ministry of Transportation.
Approval for all the different aspects of the event involves regional tourism agencies, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, local RCMP detachments, emergency crews and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District.
As part of its mandate to make a minimal impact on the pristine environment in the area, organizers have made a concerted effort to reward those who carpool and stay on-site for the entire three days, and are selling local produce at a farmer's market, which is still in the planning stages.
Parking lots are separated from the campground and venue site, so that campers can leave their vehicles parked for the entire festival and walk to the venue site from the 'tent city.'
Concert stages will be largely powered by hydro-electric energy rather than diesel generators, and the compactable soil underneath the musical stages will be replaced by gravel in order to prevent damage from the weight of the equipment.
And water. There will be lots of Whistler water, the official water sponsor of the event.
Limited at 40,000 attendees, the festival will be considerably smaller than European festivals like Glastonbury, which has a capacity of 175,000.
The Pemberton event is expected to attract about the same number of people that would normally be in Whistler on a winter holiday weekend.
To avoid traffic congestion, the festival campground will be open a day before the event and several days after the concert is over. It will be set up to accommodate 23,000 campers.
Bourbonnais stresses the event has to be a win-win situation for all parties involved, otherwise no one will want it to return.
"It can work for the community, but if it doesn't work for the investor and the producer, it's like any other scenario in business," he said. "It's got to be a win-win for the public, the community of Pemberton, and the investor and producer of it."
Cost is no deterrent
Since fewer than 3,000 three-day tickets and about 1,500 single-day tickets remain unsold, it appears that music fans are not deterred by the high ticket prices.
Early bird tickets sold out quickly, especially in the Pemberton area, Bourbonnais said.
"A lot of people in Pemberton have been saying they've been getting calls from friends they haven't heard from in a long time, saying 'they're using my spare bedroom,' and those types of things, so I expect 2,500 to 3,000 coming from Pemberton and the area, like Birkin, in the corridor."
Tickets for the event are $259.50 for a three-day pass and $149.50 for a one-day pass. Camping fees are $90 for a three-day camping pass, and RV campgrounds are already sold out. Full details and prices can be found on the festival website.
Half of all tickets already sold went to concertgoers who live outside of B.C.
About 2,000 have been purchased by buyers who live outside North America.
"When we announced, it spread through the internet rapidly, through Facebook and social networking sites," said Bourbonnais.
"We have 2,000 people that are coming that are not from North America ... from Asia, South America, Europe ... that's one of the great things about a festival. People come from all over and spend three days together and watch great music and people make a lot of new friends, and it's a great camaraderie."
Bourbonnais declined to say how much it cost to stage an event of this magnitude.
"It's a lot of money," he said. "Doing it right .... is expensive. It's definitely an expensive project."
