This weekend Hinton’s Wild Mountain Music Festival promises 21 unique acts over the course of three days, including headliners Corb Lund, Sloan and Joel Plaskett Emergency, for what organizers are calling their strongest lineup yet.
“The music’s never been better,” said Brian LaBerge, WMMF president. “From Kimberley MacGregor who’s kicking off the festival on Friday night right through to Joel Plaskett Emergency stepping off stage on Sunday, our lineup’s never been this good from top to bottom.
“There’s no filler bands. There’s no $300 acts that are just sort of passing through town. Everybody’s that’s coming is a complete pro. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
LaBerge, who has been with the festival since its inception in 2008, said he’s most excited to see Whitehorse, because of his long-time love for Luke Doucet.
Whitehorse, who’s scheduled to take the stage on Saturday, is made up of Doucet and his wife and long-time musician Melissa McClelland. Together the duo creates a mesmerizing live show using live loops, along with Doucet’s guitar riffs and McClelland’s powerful vocals.
LaBerge also pointed to bluesman Bill Durst as an artist not to be missed.
“We’ve tried for a couple of years to get Bill Durst here, he’s a blues player from Winnipeg and he’s super high energy.”
As Wild Mountain has grown over the years, LaBerge said the goal has been to attract festival-goers that will come for all three days, taking in the whole experience from start to finish. 
He said he hopes with the strength of this year’s lineup, which is non-stop from Friday afternoon all the way through to Sunday night, people will take advantage of the opportunity and stick around.
To make that even easier, the festival offers free camping for pass holders.
Wild Mountain is held at Entrance Ranch, eight kilometres north of Hinton off of Highway 40, and is the largest volunteer run festival in Canada, with more than 3,000 volunteer hours donated over the course of the weekend.
To avoid getting caught in traffic, there will be shuttle buses available for pick up and drop off from four different locations in Hinton, including Servus Credit Union, The Old Grind, Best Western and Parks West Mall.
Tickets are on sale online at www.wildmtnmusic.ca, as well as at the gates.
