The Harvest Sun Music Fest

Founded in 2006, Kelwood, Manitoba’s Harvest Sun Music Fest is a small festival dedicated to bringing awareness and support to farming and agriculture through music and the arts. The festival prides itself in offering a completely Canadian lineup in a rural prairie setting. Tucked away in Riding Mountain National Park, attendees are just a few minutes away from hiking trails and an abundance of wildlife. Festival goers can also get the full outdoors experience by camping while attending the event.

Lineups over the years have seen the festival’s stages graced by the likes of Iskwé, William Prince, The Small Glories, Sierra Noble, Al Simmons, Sweet Alibi, Alana Levandoski, Carly Dow, Nation of Two, The Noble Thiefs, Ego Spank, Raine Hamilton, Kayla Luky, Sc Mira, Seanster and the Monsters, Rob Waddell, Roger Roger, Don Amero, Marc Clement and more.

The festival provides many opportunities for community involvement like free access for local farmers to advertise and sell their products in the event’s onsite farmers market. Each year, the festival names a “featured farmer,” who the organizers extensively promote leading up to the festival. They also set up a children’s tent where the youngest attendees can participate in activities like face painting, craft building and workshops, and watch children’s entertainers.

The Harvest Sun Music Fest is committed to decreasing their carbon footprint each year. Food vendors use strictly biodegradable plates, cups and utensils while attendees can fill their reusable water bottles at the many water stations posted around the grounds. In 2012, the festival partnered with The Clear Lake Golf Course to encourage composting throughout the event and use electric golf carts to transport volunteers and musicians.