The Shuswap will be the backdrop to a new program that will give the world the chance to experience some of the best and most beautiful features of the area.
Called the Routes and Blues festival, this inaugural event will run from Aug. 11 to 16 and will be comprised of a series of satellite concerts to top off a daily itinerary of activities en route to various rural communities.
The event is designed to introduce music lovers to the fabulous Shuswap and bring them together under a common passion: music.
Each of the six days of the festival will offer several activities that appeal to a broad audience.
There will be opportunities to enjoy the artistic and cultural world of pottery, painting and glasswork studios.
For those that like digging their hands into fertile soil, there will be numerous animal and agricultural activities.
Thrill seekers will also find activities to match their tastes including ziplining and various aquatic adventures.
The Shuswap Trail Alliance has arranged daily afternoon hikes that will feature amazing sights such as the waterfalls at Albas Falls Provincial Park, and amazing avian predators that call the Enderby Cliffs home.
Local groups in each of the communities on the Routes and Blues map will fire up their grills and ovens to offer pre-concert meals to feed hungry hikers and as a fundraising opportunity for the groups.
A feast of a different kind follows with the entertaining lineup of performers.
Up-and-coming artists such as Aaron Nazrul and the Boom Booms, multiple Juno Award winning Alpha Yaya Diallo, as well as Juno Award nominee Rumba Calzada will make the community halls around the Shuswap rumble.
In the open-air amphitheatre at Quaaout Lodge, two-time Aboriginal Music Award winner George Leach promises to put on an unforgettable show.
Other acts include BCIMA nominee Dominique Fraissard, as well as legendary blues man and BCIMA winner Sherman Doucette.
For more information, visit www.rootsandblues.ca or call 250-833-4096.