THE LARGEST CELEBRATION OF
SASKATCHEWAN'S ORIGINAL MUSIC

See index (left) for our favourite photos of Flatland 2000.

OUR COMMENTS ON THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL

Our fifth annual festival was held July 7-9 in Victoria Park, Regina. After a month of rain, the weather god (goddess?) smiled on us again, and Friday dawned a beautiful day. Things really got under way with setup in the park of the sound system, tents, vendors, and so on. Our newest board members were thrown rather roughly into the mix and did an awesome job right from the start, with glamorous jobs like laying flooring and setting up tables and chairs.

Early on Friday Lorena answered the question of when the first crisis would appear, by attempting to stop a 500 lb. stack of metal chairs with her head as we were unloading on site. The finely tuned machine that Flatland is, the backstage ran smoothly while she was getting stitched up at the hospital.

Friday’s lineup saw folk, blues and country artists take the stage to a beautiful day and appreciative audiences, culminating in a great set by country headliner Chad Klinger.

Saturday we were off to another beautiful day, and an early start with some hard rock/alternative/pop and some young talents getting the opportunity to perform. The Regina Farmer’s Market ran on Scarth St. next to the park and the park quickly filled up with music lovers. Headliner Limblifter, Sweetsalt, From the Ashes, and The Minnow were among the groups who rocked majestically.

Sunday brought our most eclectic day – children’s music, gospel, funk, Greek, pop, jazz, folk, rock and ska. The Vintage Volkswagen Show ‘N Shine was held on Scarth as well. The weather held out until approximately 5:15, when a sudden thunderstorm hit and forced us to shut down the stage for over an hour. We did restart and a few more artists were able to perform their sets before we had to pull the plug at 8:00 p.m. Unfortunately, this meant that three awesome bands were not able to go on. Teardown in the rain proceeded very quickly, with much gratitude to the volunteers who stayed to help despite being soaked to the skin.

Overall attendance for the weekend was estimated at 30,000. Daytime shows are increasingly better-attended (which is great for all artists involved).

We had a few problems with artist attendance this year – three artists cancelled at the last minute, one due to a family emergency and one due to car trouble. Eileen Laverty and Jennifer Gibson were pulled from their volunteer duties to perform replacement sets. The backstage area ran very smoothly – other than rain delays – with our crew of Derek Bachman, Chad Guy and Leroy Harder trying to ease the transition for some of our very new performers.

The CBC remote recording truck was on hand to capture several groups for future broadcast – keep your ears out for them.

The Music Performance Trust Fund was on board with assistance once again...Union presence was on site for the weekend, and payments are proceeding smoothly.

Our Autograph Tent is now a staple of the festival and appears to be the most effective way to increase merchandise sales.

All in all, the music was absolutely FANTASTIC and we are constantly surprised ourselves at the range and depth of talent in Saskatchewan. The great thing is that people outside of our industry are starting to get it, too.

Coordinator Julie Desjarlais reported that volunteer attendance was MUCH better this year. We want to thank our volunteers for their dedication, hard work, professionalism and excellence: it is due to your efforts that Flatland is a success. We know that we can’t do it without you! Special thanks to our first-ever "Team Leaders" and those who braved the torrential Sunday rains.

Minds Eye New Media once again assisted with the live feed of the festival to the Internet world. Terry Massey coordinated the upload of material and was our resident photographer. We had so many "hits" to the site that at one point on Sunday the web server crashed, resulting in temporary transmission delays.

Merch sales were very good, including Flatland items. We still have a few T-shirts remaining, so if you want to pick one up just give us a call and stop by. (They’re $20 and beautiful.)

A whole lot of awesome craft, food and community vendors were in attendance, including interesting booths like henna tattooing, marionettes, and psychic readings.

Volunteers from Kids’ Help Phone oversaw the kids’ area on Saturday and Sunday, assisted by Matt Donnelly and his crew of face-painters. The area also included balloons and a giant jump slide.

The Molson "I Am Canadian" beer gardens ran smoothly all weekend, thanks to the efforts of our beer ticket sellers, servers and security personnel.

A huge round of applause to this year’s partners for enabling us to continue to bring this uniquely Saskatchewan event to music-loving audiences. See you next year!

A-1 Rentals – thanks Dave and Debbie
Budget Car & Truck Rental – thanks Bruce Samuelson
City of Regina departments, especially Glenn, Rhonda, Corry, Rick, Stan, Larry, Grant, Mike and Cindy
Global Television
Government of Canada through the Sound Recording Development Program (FACTOR)
Minds Eye New Media, especially Jim Folk
Molson Breweries, with special thanks to Barry Thomson
Music Performance Trust Fund (American Federation of Musicians) – Brian Dojack and Don Young
Olive Waller Zinkhan & Waller, who allow J.P. to come out and play
Regina Exhibition Association, in particular Lea Kennedy
Regina’s Market Square, with special thanks to Laura Turner, John Hopkins and the downtown merchants for their support
Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts
Saskatchewan’s Department of Municipal Affairs, Culture & Housing and the Honourable Clay Serby
SaskFerco
SaskLotteries, and the gang at SaskCulture
SaskTel, in particular Lori Sartison
The SOCAN Foundation
And all of our media partners for their support

We really wanted to do a pancake breakfast on Sunday this year. Next year hopefully this will be a reality.

Also scheduled will be edition 2 of the Flatland Music Compilation CD.

Increased sponsorship is a must for future festivals. We still aren’t at the breaking-even point this year, and were extremely lucky that the weather held out as long as it did.

Bruce Allan, Jim Alvarez, Julie Atter, Stacy Atter, Rick August, Jamie B., Derek Bachman, Brenda Baker, Art Slade, Jocelyn Bathgate, Emily Bathgate, Allan Bathgate, John Bellamy, Philip Berard, Jolene Best, John Bidochka, Jason Breker, Megan Breker, Marianna Brown, Jesse Brown, Stacey Caldwell, Troy Camp, Melanie Clark, Andrew Cook, Joanne Crawford, Lori Daku, Regan Dennis, Phyllis Desjarlais, Jodi Desjarlais, Randy Desjarlais, George Dimas, Tom Donnelly, Richard Donnelly, Matt Donnelly, Les Donnelly, Jocelyn Drebot, Sam Dufour, Marny Duncan-Cary, J.P. Ellson, James Evans, Scott Fellner, Colleen Fillion, Ian Flear, Kim Fontaine, Danny Fortier, Darrel Fox, Steve Fuller, Melissa Gabrielle, Craig Gelowitz, Rick Gelsinger, Kory Gibbs, Jen Gibson, Larry Gray, Darlene Gray, Chris Guskjolen, Chad Guy, Dennis Hackewick, Sandra Halldorson-Pulles, Debbie Halo, Logan Hancock, Leroy Harder, Christine Harrington, David Hayter, Garland Headley, Kate Heriot, Monica Hogan, Bob Holowaty, Morley Ignatiuk, Mike James, Marta Jastrzebski, Myles Keleman, Dustin Knox, Arlon Kopp, Judy Koszman, Krysta Kusiak, Eileen Laverty, Stephan Lentzos, Nicol Lischka, Dana Lloyd, Danny MacDonald, Mika Mang, Justin Mang, Jocelyn Martin, Marian Massell, Terry Massey, Patrick Matiowski, Todd Milleker, Dennis Naple, Jessie Oberik, Sandy Olsen, Don Olson, Sheryl Onraet, Rob Palacol, Scott Patrick, Salina Perry, Owen Plohr, Judy Porteous, Jason Power, Dawn Pritchard, Con Pryshlak, Dave Pura, Ben, Reynolds Mitch Riabko, Dwight Riegler, Linda Robertson, Jeremy Robertson, Jared Robinson, Nathan Schalm, Hal Schrenk, Darren Scraper, Kelly Scraper, Bridget Smith, Sherry Spencer, Kathy Stochmal, Casey Stone, Kevin Switzer, Fred Taylor, Lisa Toth, Kelly Trachsel, Don Waite, Tony Walker, Herb Ward, Don Warkentin, Leonard Wentland, Russ Whyte, Nathan Wilson, Bob Wingert, Carole Wollbaum, Paula Woodfield, Miles Yohnke, Audra ?

Comments on 1999...

"I want to commend everyone at SRIA on the success of this year's Flatland. Every aspect of the festival was run with world-class professionalism. Just wanted to let you know how impressed I am & what a wonderful job you're doing."

"As always, the Saskatchewan Recording Industry Association did an outstanding job of planning and producing this annual showcase of Saskatchewan songwriting and performing artists."

"You guys did an amazing job with the Festival!"

"Well done everyone and good luck with next year's!"

"Please pass along my congrats to all of you for a great job on the Flatland Festival. I was surprised at the number of people I spoke to afterwards who made it out for the first time this year, and they were blown away by the acts and the production. They had no idea there was this much good stuff happening around here. Of course, that's the whole point of the event, to showcase the talent, but it's nice to see that it works and reaches people aside from those already aware of the scene."

What the media's saying...

"Regina's Victoria Park filled with thousands of music lovers on the weekend to watch Saskatchewan talent perform at the Flatland Music Festival."
- Regina Leader Post, July 1998

"FLATLAND ROCKS AGAIN...After only two years, the Flatland Music Festival has become 'One of the cool things about summer in Regina.' A great job by the Saskatchewan Recording Industry Association."
- Regina Leader Post, July 1997

"By pretty much any measure, the Flatland Music Festival was a ripping success, and everyone involved deserves congratulations"
- Regina Leader Post, July 1996

"I'm convinced that live Saskatchewan music outdoors is some of the best I"ll ever hear. The Flatland Festival went off without a hitch in Victoria Park last weekend, and the results were spectacular - again. In just two years, the festival has grown to become perhaps the province's most important musical event. There are three major reasons - the musicians, the people who put the festival together, and the way the community rallies in support of our homegrown talent. The talent pool in the province is deep and diverse. Virtually every genre was represented at Flatland, and represented with considerable skill. It was Woodstock without the mud and bad drugs."
- Regina Free Press, July 1997

"The success of last year's show - close to 20,000 over the weekend - caught even the organizers by surprise."
- Regina Leader Post, June 1997

About the Festival...

The Flatland Music Festival has become a true success story for Regina's cultural community. With a minimal budget, the festival producers present over forty Saskatchewan recording artists to an audience totalling over 25,000 during the three day event.

The Flatland Music Festival is the biggest celebration of Saskatchewan music in the province.

Produced by SRIA, this festival showcases musical artists and groups from all genres, including singer/songwriters, rock and pop, country, jazz, world beat, first nations, Celtic, and everything in between. The term "Flatland Music" was coined to encompass this diverse range of music originating in the Prairies, and the Flatland Music Festivalis our official party to celebrate this music, the performers, their cultural diversity, and depth of talent. 

It's much more than just a music festival, though - it's a weekend of activities for the entire family. We have a food court, merchandise areas, arts and crafts vendors, refreshment areas and kids' activities .

Each of these areas is co-ordinated by our dedicated volunteers, and the festival attitude we have cultivated is one of community involvement, partnering, encouragement of our cultural diversities, and recognition of our province's wealth of talent.

The variety of music presented draws a wide audience, and we schedule our performers to accommodate this large range.

There are few venues in which original music groups and artists can perform their material for an all-ages audience. It is difficult for the average consumer to find and purchase independent artists' products in regular retail outlets. The Flatland Music Festival puts these groups on stage in a beautiful outdoor environment, providing an excellent opportunity for these artists to play. Their fans can purchase the latest compact discs, cassettes, t-shirts and hats, while enjoying great music under the July sun. (Yes, we do get some beautiful weather for our festival.)

Contact Us

If you can't find the information you seek here, please contact...

Marian Donnelly, Executive Director: regarding Sponsorships or Publicity
Lorena Kelly, Program Coordinator: regarding Performing, Vending or Volunteering

#114-2001 Cornwall Street
Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 3X9 Canada
Phone 306.347.0676
Fax 306.347.7735

The Touchtone Gurus give
Lorena a break backstage at
Flatland 99..