MEDICINE HAT, AB – One of the biggest fundraising events of the summer will be celebrating 10 years in 2019.
Quonset Days will be held July 19 and 20 outside of Seven Persons.
“It’s grown considerably,” said Trevor Biemans, board chair for Quonset Days. “We always look back and think about where we’ve come from when we started.”
On Monday, the organizers announced the headliners acts for the evening concerts.
On July 19, Jade Eagleson and Emerson Drive will be performing, while Adam Gregory and The Washboard Union will close out the event on Saturday.
“We went in with a little more stress than usual, but we pulled it together,” Trevor said. “We wanted to make sure we had a great lineup for our 10th anniversary, just to showcase not only where we’re at with the organization itself, but we wanted to give back to the people who have been supporting us for so long and put a great show together for them.”
Eagleson is an up-and-coming country singer best known for the song “Get Your Name On It.” Emerson Drive have won multiple CCMA Awards since they emerged in 1999.
Adam Gregory has been performing since 2000, and is best known for the songs “Horseshoes,” “Crazy Days,” and “What It Takes.” The Washboard Union are best known for their hits “Shot of Glory” and “Maybe It’s the Moonshine,” and have also won multiple CCMA awards.
Quonset Days was created as a tribute to Peter Biemans, Trevor’s father, who passed away in 2009 from ALS. The two-day event features food vendors, a live and silent auction, pedal tractor races, and concerts, all held on the Biemans’ farm.
Over the past nine events, the event has raised more than $400,000 for the ALS Society of Alberta. The 2018 event, which featured The Hunter Brothers and Meghan Patrick, raised $87,000 for the society, in addition to $1,000 for HALO Air Rescue.
Trevor says he is amazed with how the event has grown since its inception, noting last year’s event, they had just over 1,300 attend over two days.
“It really blows my mind the number of people we get,” he said. “It consistently grows every year by about 200 people. This year, we’re probably expecting between the 1,400-1,500 patron mark.
“If you look back where we came from, I think the first Quonset Days, there was 150 people who attended, and now we’re over 1,000 and approaching 1,500. It’s something to behold.”
Tickets go on sale on the Quonset Days website on Friday at 10 a.m. The Friday event costs $40, the Saturday event costs $50, and a two-day pass costs $80. Passes for RV Camping are also being sold for $25, with Trevor noting he expects those to sell quickly.
Trevor adds Quonset Days will also once again feature a free shuttle bus taking people from Medicine Hat to the event site and back into the city.
