Saint John's Area 506 music festival lands new home at old Coast Guard site
Organizers of Saint John's Area 506 music festival had to scramble to find a temporary home after they learned Long Wharf would not be available this summer.
Port Saint John advised them last month the site is needed for a number of shipments of wind turbine parts from May until September.
On Tuesday, Saint John city council agreed to rent the former Coast Guard site on the uptown waterfront for the event.
Organizer Terry Wagner is relieved.
"Obviously there's been some sleepless nights," he said on Wednesday. "But I had a great night's sleep last night."
The Coast Guard building on the site still has to be demolished first. That's slated for June and Area 506 isn't until Aug. 2-4, with the set-up of its trademark shipping container village, stage and tents usually beginning the week before.
"So it gives us a bit of wiggle room but yeah, there'll be other sleepless nights I'm sure between now and that deadline," said Wagner.
"My sledgehammer's at the ready" to help with the demolition, if need be, he joked.
May have been sunk
If the Coast Guard site hadn't come through, Wagner doubts the festival, started in 2016, could have continued.
"Plan B" — the port's Lower Cove Loop site where salt is managed — was previously ruled out because a wedding is being held at the nearby Diamond Jubilee Cruise terminal, he said.
The Coast Guard site was Plan C and "there was no Plan D."
Although some people suggested Rockwood Park or Exhibition Park as possible alternative sites, "the brand of Area 506 is it has to be on the waterfront."
Wagner is excited about the new venue, located at the foot of King Street. "It's a part of the harbour we haven't had access to for a long time and here's an opportunity for us to showcase the potential of that site."
A cruise ship is scheduled to be in the city on Aug. 4, which will increase the foot traffic, he said.
And talks are underway about possibly closing down part of Water Street to vehicles.
Although the site is bit smaller — about 180,000 square feet, compared to about 200,000 — Wagner said it could add to the "intimacy" of the event, which is "quickly becoming the signature event in the province."
He said this year's lineup includes the bands Interpol and City and Colour, which are also playing the "massive" Osheaga festival in Montreal.
"So what we're hearing from, especially that younger demographic, is — why would I go to a festival that I have to pay for airfare and hotel when it's just right in my backyard?"
