What began as a showcase for the Burlington Teen Tour Band
30 years ago has marched on to become the Sound of Music Festival, a four-day
free event held each June.
Canadian musical acts, presented on 10 stages, bring the
sound of the music to the festival presented at Spencer Smith Park on
Burlington’s waterfront. Events spill over into Streetfest that features
street-level music in downtown Burlington and gets local merchants involved.
Back in 1980, the festival began as a parade with the
award-winning Burlington Teen Tour Band as the main attraction. The marching
band was there for the 30th anniversary edition along with
headliners that included Sloan, Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, The Stills and
Divine Brown.
“It’s done nothing but grow since that time,” says James
Tuck, one of the modern festival’s organizers.
Formerly run by the City of Burlington, the festival was
turned over to a volunteer non-profit group in 1997. Tuck says the group turned
up the volume on the Sound of Music Festival, bringing in more than 90 acts and
attracting crowds of up to 190,000.
While music is the core of the festival, there are other
amusements including a carnival, family zone, vendors, and a crafters’
marketplace. In its modern incarnation, the festival requires more than 500
volunteers over the four days. A force of more than 100 volunteers work on the
festive throughout the year.
“They are all very dedicated. A lot of them are down here
for all four days of the event,” notes Tuck.
To find out more about the Sound of Music Festival, go to
www.soundofmusic.ca
and check out the volunteer opportunities.
