Cape Breton's Fort Mac benefit down to final few tickets
The concert at Sydney's Centre 200 for the people displaced by wildfire in Fort McMurray has all but sold out.
Called Givin' Back to the Mac, it will feature Cape Breton talent such as Matt Minglewood, Bruce Gouthro, the Men of the Deeps and more.
Comedians Bette MacDonald and Maynard Morrison will host the show.
By early Sunday afternoon, with just a few hours until showtime, there were only a few walk up tickets left at the box office.
Tickets went on sale at 11 o'clock Tuesday morning at a cost of $20.
The benefit is an initiative of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
"Every single ticket at $20 is going directly to the Fort McMurray effort and response," said Cape Breton Regional mayor Cecil Clarke Wednesday.
"The business community is stepping up with prizes, buying skyboxes at a premium so that we can realize a phenomenal outcome."
Community stepping up
Offshore Technical Services, with offices in Sydney, Fort McMurray, Calgary and Houston, has created a scheme to sell 13 boxes at Centre 200 to business leaders for donations of $7,500 and $10,000.
President and general manager Rodney Colbourne says Fort McMurray has become a second home to many Cape Bretoners.
"I think many companies locally and provincially have seen the benefit of that, the transient workforce travelling out west and coming back home and spending their hard-earned dollars," he said.
Other businesses have donated items or services for a silent auction.
Some of the auction items include golf packages, flooring, accommodations and artwork.
Sydney-based company NovaStream will live-stream the concert and take donations for fire relief on the website during the show.
'It's all good'
The performers are of course donating their time and talent.
Matt Minglewood calls Fort McMurray Cape Breton's "saviour", providing years of well-paying work to people from all over the Atlantic region.
"The outpouring of musicians to get involved in this, we could have had 700 performers," he said, joking that organizers had work to keep the concert down to four hours.
Bette MacDonald says it's important in stressful situations to have some release.
"And if it's humour, great. If it's music, wonderful. At the same time, if you're raising money and helping out that way, it's all good."
