Cloverdale is the place to be this Sunday. Fittingly, an all-day lineup of Canadian and B.C. talent will be assembled at the Cloverdale Millennium Amphitheatre for the City of Surrey's Canada Day party.
July 1 celebration routinely draws crowds of 100,000 or more.
This year’s headliners – Montreal’s Sam Roberts Band and Vancouver indie sensation Hannah Georgas – cap off a day of live entertainment.
Admission is free.
The gates open at 10 a.m., and fireworks start more than 12 hours later at 10:15 p.m., ensuring there’s plenty of opportunity to let your Canadian and your Surrey pride shine. Shout it loud.
Returning for Canada’s 145th birthday is the Peak Performance Stage where there are two, side-by-side stages running non-stop with entertainment by the top 20 finalists in the Peak Performance Project.
Music is just part of the story. There are plenty of family-friendly activities and attractions planned, including a midway, games, Kids World, face-painting, food vendors and more.
The marketplace will feature crafts, displays and radio stations on remote.
Surrey Heritage Services will present Frontier Tale Blazers, featuring live, interactive recreations of Surrey pioneers, played by professional actors. Meet Dr. Fredrick Sinclair, teacher Mary Jane Shannon, Reeve T.J. Sullivan, printer’s devil Stan McKinnon and pioneer carpenter Eric Anderson. Showtimes are every 15 minutes at the historic performance tent in the southwest corner of the Cloverdale Amphitheatre grounds.
Storyville, presented by the Surrey Public Library, will feature stories, songs, games and puppets.
Apart from free musical entertainment, the event will showcase members of the Global FMX freestyle motocross team, who will launch themselves more than 30 feet overhead.
A kids matinee with Will Stroet starts off the mainstage entertainment at 11 a.m., followed by Shyama Priya, Cris Derksen and the Wild Moccasins Dancers at noon.
Opening ceremonies with Mayor Dianne Watts and Surrey city council are at 1:30 p.m. Expect Watts et al to hang around for the party; last year the mayor belted it out on stage with Trooper.
The alt-country collaborative ensemble, The High Bar Gang (See “High Bar Gang Will Rope 'em in Canada Day”), takes the stage at 2:30 p.m., kicking off the afternoon’s mainstage performances.
Up next is pop singer-songwriter Andrew Allen, a B.C. musician who’s scored three top 10 hits, including “Loving You Tonight” and “I Want You,” and has toured with Bruno Mars, One Republic, Train and the Barenaked Ladies.
Blaze of Glory is a Bon Jovi tribute band that refuses to rely on pre-recorded vocals or instruments – or wigs – a hairband groupie’s dream come true.
The ensemble is comprised of hand-picked talent from Canadian recording artists. The four vocalists are professionally trained singers, and all five members have painstakingly duplicated the original New Jersey Jovi experience down to the smallest detail.
Jerry Doucette is another Canadian classic, famous for such memorable tunes as “Mama Let Him Play,” “Down the Road,” and “All I Wanna Do.”
He and energetic blues/rocker Jordan Cook will deliver guitar-driven sets.
Juno-nominee Hannah Georgas is one of Vancouver’s brightest talents. She released her debut album, This Is Good, to critical and popular acclaim in 2010, landing her on the long list for the Polaris Music Prize that year. Equally impressive, her song, “Bang Bang Your Dead,” earned the number four spot on CBC Radio3’s year-end countdown.
Sam Roberts Band will take the stage at 8:45 p.m., followed by fireworks at 10:15 p.m.
The multiple award-winning Roberts is one of Canada’s best live performers and songwriters, known for crafting such anthems as “Brother Down,” “Don’t Walk Away Eileen”, “Where Have All the Good People Gone,” and “Hard Road.”
– The Cloverdale Amphitheatre is located at 176 St. and 64 Ave. For a full schedule of events, check surrey.ca/canadaday.
http://youtu.be/z-6vMYY6Mmk