Lineup announced

City officials announced the lineup for the upcoming fifth annual Superior Youth Festival concert, and headliner Sheepdogs will be the event’s centrepiece.

Jean-Paul De Roover, Summer Festivals and Events co-ordinator, announced the lineup at a media conference at the Marina Park main stage on Tuesday for the annual youth festival concert.

The festival begins on Aug. 24 with Trevor Potts taking the stage at 6 p.m., followed by Down Converter, Concepts, Drive, Maraday and finally Saskatoon’s own Sheepdogs at 9:10 p.m.

The southern soul band has played in Thunder Bay before, but the small-town group’s career has taken a giant leap forward since when they landed on the August cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

De Roover said having a band with that kind of recognition helps to bring the festival to a new level.

“This is our fifth year and we’ve been growing consistently but we it definitely feels like we’ve achieved the status of a festival that’s never going to go away,” De Roover said on Tuesday. “By having an act that has such a claim we can now be a real contender in comparison to other festivals and events in the region as well as locally.”

De Roover said the five local bands scheduled to play may not be as well known as the Sheepdogs, but the event will still give them an opportunity to play in front of a large crowd.

Jon Wilson, program director for Youth Zone, said his organization has been involved with the festival since it first started in 2006 as a way to engage youth. He said it was great to see the concert grow from a few hundred in the beginning to thousands of people in the crowd.

 “I think it is a tough age group to get involved with to begin with,” Wilson said. “Those are some of the issues Youth Zone has dealt with over the years. I think the festival being dedicated specifically to youth is good to get everyone out and involved. We’ve noticed a huge jump in our numbers this year so it shows that people are listening and I think it speaks well for this concert.” 



 
--- Follow Jeff Labine on Twitter: @Labine_reporter