Canadian musician Buffy Sainte-Marie will miss this year's Burnaby Blues + Roots Festival.
Sainte-Marie was slated to headline the festival will at Deer Lake Park Aug.12, but due to a combination of health concerns and physical challenges, the singer/songwriter has announced her retirement from live performances ahead of the event, the city noted in a press release.
Grammy-nominated American indie-folk band Fleet Foxes will now be performing as the headliner for the free festival.
The band has earned two Grammy nominations, one for Best Folk Album in 2012 for their Helplessness Blues and one for Best Alternative Music Album in 2022 for Shore.
Joining the lineup this year will be 2022 RBCxMusic artist Bebe Buckskin, a Cree/Metis artist with deep roots in the muskeg and boreal forest of Northern Alberta; grammy-nominated artist Allison Russell; pop, rhythm and blues group The Dip; hymn-jammer Boy Golden; and Arctic soul band The Trade Offs with lyrics blending Inuktitut and English.
This is the first year that the festival will be free to attend and will have food trucks on-site (including the Brownie Bakers, the Jerk Shack, Shameless Buns and more) and a family zone. Beer and wine service will be available for the 19+ crowd.
The event has a capacity of 9,000 attendees.
For more information, see the event website.
Burnaby Blues + Roots festival
When: Saturday, Aug. 12, gates open at 1 p.m., opening act at 2 p.m., event runs till 10 p.m.
Where: Deer Lake Park festival lawn (6450 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby)
Cost: Free admission
- with files from Lauren Vanderdeen
