The Boom Booms and Good for Grapes are headlining this year’s Uptown Live street festival.
After a one-year hiatus, Uptown Live returns to New Westminster on Saturday, July 23. The indie music festival runs from noon to 9 p.m. in Uptown New Westminster.
“Without a doubt this is our best lineup yet,” said Bart Slotman, chair of the Uptown Business Association of New Westminster, which organizes Uptown Live. “We are totally committed to providing festival goers with first-rate, free entertainment. I think we have done an amazing job selecting the artists for our four performance stages. It is especially gratifying to put on an event of this calibre without an admission fee. New West can be very proud.”
Other performers set to take to the Uptown Live stages are the R&B Allstars, Twin River, JP Maurice, Little India, Blue Moon Marquee, The Tourist Company, Field Study, The Katherines, Tonye Aganaba, Lydia Hol, Brandon Isaak, Gabriela Geneva, Tea Petrovic, Sarah Wheeler and Gary Comeau & the Voodoo Allstars.
Uptown Live, which was held in 2012, 2013 and 2014, features musical entertainment, food trucks, art exhibits, kids activities, bike demonstrations and the New Westminster Farmers Market. PartyWorks interactive will provide inflatables for kids on Belmont Street.
“It’s looking fantastic. The response from the community, exhibitors, sponsors, everybody has just been great,” said festival organizer Douglas Smith. “I think it’s going to be by far the best ever. We are really filling up the site. It’s going to be jam-packed with all kinds of installations and activities, stuff for kids, art installations, the farmers market, beer gardens. We are working with Steel & Oak on a beer garden.”
This year’s event features musical entertainment on four stages. The TD main stage will be located at Sixth and Princess streets, the Save-On-Foods main stage will be at Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street, the Westminster Savings kids' stage will be on Sixth Avenue near Fifth Street and the Buy-Low Foods local stage will be at Sixth Street near Fifth Avenue.
“We are very excited about the lineup,” Smith said. “We are showcasing some great talent. We have always been able to identify and book really, really great emerging B.C.-based talent. You’ll notice we are definitely doing the same this time.”
