Spectrum in 2019 at Kin Coulee Park. (Photo from Spectrum Festival/Facebook)

By Chris Brown

Old favourites and new features

Spectrum Festival returns in early June

May 17, 2022 | 1:12 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Excitement is growing as the days tick away until the return of another summer favourite in Medicine Hat.

The Spectrum Festival returned to Kin Coulee Park in 2018 and 2019 before being cancelled the past two years due to COVID.

“It’s so exciting and the closer we get to the event, being able to announce who are lineup is, acts that are coming in from out of town, locally,” says president Justin Wright. “You know us being able to partner with a number of different local community organizations to really build a healthy partnership is so fantastic and we are so excited to be able to take Spectrum back from two years off.”

Many in the community see Spectrum as the unofficial kickoff to summer.

This year’s festival is June 3-5 and Wright says everything will be centred around the bandshell area.

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The schedule is a mix of familiar activities people have come to expect and new ones like a skate school from the Medicine Hat Skateboard Association and three days of Pure Power Wrestling out of Lethbridge.

“Each day is going to be packed with music and entertainment for the kids and the family and we’ve also got different community booths, a trade show and beer gardens,” he says.

“A lot of it has been built by community partnerships. So we’ve built a partnership with the Dunmore Dugout They’re going to be handling all of the amusement for the kids and adults things like climbing walls, bungee jump trailers, gyro balls, jump castles, and obstacle courses. From a trade show perspective, we have The Mom Market hosting all of that for us.”

This is Wright’s first year as president. He says there is a lot of excitement for him that he has to hold down for fear of overpromising and underdelivering.

“But at the same time we’ve got such a great board from different areas of the city with different backgrounds to really bring together a festival that is going to be I think really special and really good,” he says. “We just really want to make sure that we can launch summer and do the history of Spectrum some justice and put together a good festival.”

Wright says the board is always looking for members and volunteers. Email info@spectrumfestival.ca or more information on the festival and how you can get involved.