screen shot council from left, Councillors Eugene Brahaney, Rick English and Rosemary Kelleher-MacLennan

Festival Organizers Given a Set of Requirements

The “driving factor” behind the festival Doug Oliver co-founded with (John) Seeney “is to bring awareness to our small community around addiction and mental health,”

Article by John Campbell

Hastings - Crooks Rapids Country Fest now has a permanent home east of Hastings but it still must meet certain conditions each year to address the concerns of neighbours and local authorities.

Organizers of the event held on Pickens Road were granted a temporary use permit last year to stage the festival, despite numerous objections raised by area residents who complained about noise levels, traffic, garbage and other problems they claimed the festival causes.

Their concerns were taken into account when Trent Hills council gave the go-ahead for the music festival to proceed in 2021, and they remained relevant when council members voted May 24 to rezone 50 acres owned by John and Charlene Foster to Rural Exception to allow for the music festival to continue to be held once a year.

Festival organizers Doug Oliver and John Seeney were given a set of requirements they are to fulfill in order for the event to proceed, which they have been given in the past and was recommended once again by Director of Planning and Development Jim Peters.

The bylaw approved by council includes:
— setting a maximum number of camping sites (100);
— monitoring sound levels (not to exceed 100 decibels) and traffic;
— cleaning up municipal roadsides within a five-kilometre radius, and;
— providing security as well as drinking water, washrooms and wash stations, recycling and garbage receptacles, and an on-site medical station.

The organizers must also submit a site plan and a traffic management plan.

Peters noted in his report that organizers had identified the site’s capacity at 3,000 in their application but they expect attendance for the festival to be 1,000. An estimated 800 people attended last year’s event.

The third annual music fest will take place Labour Day weekend, with the music to begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2 and resume the next day at noon. Both nights’ shows will end at 11 p.m. The headliners are Aaron Pritchett and Black Mountain Whiskey Rebellion.

The report by Peters contained numerous comments pro and con regarding last year’s music fest.
Oliver explained the “driving factor” behind the festival he co-founded with Seeney “is to bring awareness to our small community around addiction and mental health,” saying he had “personally lost many friends to drugs and alcohol, mental illness, addiction (and) stress.”

“Our initiative is to give our youth a positive experience,” he wrote, so they will turn to music, not drugs or alcohol, and obtain help if addicted. “Our whole goal is to save people lives,” he said.

The organizers partnered with Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation and raised $3,000 for mental health the first year the festival was held, in 2020.

Oliver and Seeney said its positive effects include boosting the local economy, bringing in tourists, creating jobs, fostering community pride, and raising money to provide music instruments for children who otherwise can’t afford one.

Both men spoke of the many steps they had taken to minimize the impact the festival has on neighbours’ lives.
Included in the agenda were emails from more than 70 people and a petition bearing 86 names expressing support for the festival. Responses were received from 35 people saying they were opposed.
(You can read all the comments at https://trenthills.civicweb.net/document/151843/.)

Councillor Gene Brahaney reminded council he hadn’t voted in favour of the festival last year but having driven by the site “several times” while it was taking place, he “never heard any outlandish amount of noise or any concerns in that regard” so he supported the zoning amendment application being approved.

He also took comfort knowing that council retained the right each year to say no to the festival “if something happens that isn’t kosher.”

It was the same assurance that Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf sought when he asked for clarity about conditions council could attach to the event permit. His understanding was that “those provisions will change from year to year, depending on perhaps how the event went.”

Peters agreed, saying “council would make a decision based on the feedback (it received) and what’s being asked for.”
To view the lineup of artists for this year’s festival, visit www.crooksrapidscountryfest.com.