Music Fest Ends Tragically

An event billed as “Canada's largest country music festival” came to an abrupt end Saturday when a vicious electrical storm with high winds and driving rain brought down a stage and sent attendees to seek cover wherever they could find it.

The L2PNetwork’s Jake Kelly has been in touch with performers at the event and tells us “Country artist Billy Currington was performing his last song when the storm hit, he was unable to get off the stage in time and had to be treated for injuries. His bass player was trapped under so wreckage and it took paramedics a half hour to get him out. He was taken to surgery to repair an artery in his arm. I can't imagine that's good for a musician. One person died, no report on who that was yet. I received a few text messages from Gary Allen, (who was scheduled to headline the event on Saturday) and  apparently, all the gear that was one stage...and off (guitar station, per-staged stuff...)...was lost including vintage guitars ('59 Les Paul sunburst, '55 Les Paul goldtop, late 50's Les Paul t.v. special) along with all the band's gear.”

According to Camrose Police Chief Darrell Kambeitz, 21 of an estimated 75 who were injured were taken to hospitals, two in critical condition. Officials that there was very little advance warning that a storm was gathering. Kambeitz said the local police had been informed just five minutes before the storm hit that a possible tornado had touched just south of Edmonton."We had people on the stage at 5:57 p.m., and the storm struck between 5:57 p.m. and 6 p.m," he said. Jamboree producer Larry Werner said that as soon as his office hear the storm was coming, the music stopped and announcements were made to clear the concert bowl.

Vancouver-based country music singer Jessie Farrell, who had performed earlier in the day, told CTV News, It felt like bombs were going off around us in this concrete and steel building, huge hits of power hitting the building, and then the lights were off."

An estimated 15,000 were on hand for the scheduled four-day festival, which started Thursday. Yesterday’s performances were cancelled by the promoter, who said the organizers were deeply saddened by the tragedy. Click links below for more:

AP Report

CTV.ca