Pull on your cowboy boots: Montreal's first-ever Lasso Fest kicks off
The distinct twang of country music is ringing throughout the air of Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau this weekend, with Montreal's first-ever major country music festival underway.
The Lasso Festival kicked off Friday night with a show from the Mountain Daisies.
Country juggernaut Luke Bryan headlines Saturday night's lineup, which also features Dierks Bentley, Kelsea Ballerini, Riley Green and more.
The festival was announced two years ago by the same team that organizes Osheaga but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Osheaga year one was considerably smaller than this, so we have the advantage of being able to start this one a little bit bigger with some of the biggest names in country right now," said Evenko vice-president Nick Farkas.
For people like Brittany Kennel, it's a momentous occasion.
"I can't even put it into words, to be honest," the country singer said. "I just feel overwhelmed that here in Montreal, down at Parc Drapeau, we are having country artists perform."
Originally from Beaconsfield, Que., Kennel moved to Nashville in 2011 to pursue country music, which she says didn't have a scene in Montreal.
"At the time, there wasn't space for that here," she said.
Kennel herself performed at the festival on Saturday.
According to Farkas, the reaction to Lasso fest was incredible out of the gates shortly after the team announced its launch.
Qubec band Mountain Daisies opened the Lasso Montreal country music festival on Ile Jean Drapeau. SOURCE: Lasso Montreal
Lasso programmer Audrey Johnson said that based on how fast Luke Bryan's show at the Bell Centre sold out, country music has a solid fan base in the province.
"Quebec has always been a pretty country province," she said. "Country music has always been very popular."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a "major assault."
DEVELOPING Defence rests without Donald Trump taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their defence Tuesday without the former president taking the witness stand in his New York hush money trial.
Passenger killed, 30 injured as Singapore Airlines flight hits severe turbulence
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Feels like mid-30s in parts of Canada, while other areas expecting snow
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Canada's inflation cools to 3-year low of 2.7%, in boost for rate cut bets
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
'Documents are fraudulent': Graceland is not for sale, Elvis Presley's granddaughter says in lawsuit
Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, is fighting plans to publicly auction his Graceland estate in Memphis after a company tried to sell the property based on claims that a loan using the king of rock ’n’ roll's former home as collateral was not repaid.
Trump campaign calls 'The Apprentice' 'blatantly false,' director offers to screen it for him
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Nestle to sell $5 pizza, sandwiches in the U.S. for Wegovy, Ozempic users
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
Flight PS752 victims' families say they're not sorry to hear of Iran president death
Members of a Canadian group representing families of those killed when Iranian officials shot down Flight PS752 in January 2020 say they are not sorry to hear of the death of Iran's president.