Party in the Park 2018 a huge success!

 

“Plaid, dirt, white shirts, blue collar roots still running through my veins. I was born small town, deep roots, mud on these boots. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s how I was born and raised.” These lyrics from the Hunter Brothers’ song Born and Raised were sung loud and clear by the massive audience at Rotary Park on Saturday night. As they closed out the show wrapping up the two-day Party in the Park event, the brothers expressed their gratitude to the thousands of people who came to enjoy the festival and who filled the grounds in front of the Eagle River Casino stage for their show on June 16.

At one point during their set, Ty Hunter asked the audience where everyone was originally from and asked folks to raise their hands as he listed the provinces and territories one by one. To his surprise and to everyone else’s, there, within the expanse of Rotary Park, were original residents of every single bordered area of Canada. It was about as Canadian as it could get, and they were loving it.

Over the course of the event, there were countless performers on the big stage including Leaving Thomas, Nice Horse, Paul Woida, Joe Public, No Name Worthy, Hailey Benedict, the Canadian Coldwater Revival, Royal Tusk, Julian Taylor Band, and Friday night’s headliner, The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer who brought sounds of rock and blues to the park. Rain was a bit of a downer on Friday evening which was unfortunate but lots of concert goers stuck it out and danced with umbrellas over their heads.

For the youngsters, there was a variety of bouncy castles including the popular battle arena which required knocking off your competitor off before they got you, a laser tag course, and the hilarious to watch, crowd favourite, bubble ball games. Think of a hamster ball for humans. There was also face painting, balloon art, Kids Fest with Al Simmons, beer gardens for much bigger kids (at heart), and Arts in the Park which featured an Artisan Market. With a row of food trucks, too, there wasn’t a reason to leave the park from start to finish each day.

When asked what position he holds in the group, J.J. Hunter answered in the best big brother fashion he could. “I am the band. The other guys just back me up.” Of course, he was just kidding and had a good laugh about it after saying it. The comradery the brothers share is evident when watching them perform and J.J. said they really enjoyed their time in Whitecourt. They even had their parents with them watching from the audience.

“Well, we drove in here and we got stuck first of all,” laughed J.J. In fact, there is a short video on the Whitecourt Woodlands Tourism Facebook page which shows the group giving their bus a little push upon arriving at Rotary Park. After a giggle, he continued about their experience at Party in the Park and it started with one word: wow!

“What a place here! The people, the venue, the stage, the sound, and the production really are first rate and I think it’s something that Whitecourt as a community can be really proud of. It’s truly been unbelievable. What an amazing thing for the community to enjoy for free. Everything has been top notch. We are truly thrilled and honoured to have been part of it.”