Music: {allcanada} Music fans mark sad anniversary at Alberta festival

Sunday, August 1, 2010

{allcanada} Music fans mark sad anniversary at Alberta festival

Country music fans were marking a sad anniversary this weekend as they flocked to Alberta for the Big Valley Jamboree, where one spectator was killed last year during a violent windstorm.

The four-day concert features big-name talent such as Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Keith Urban and Kevin Costner, who was readying to perform last Aug. 1 when high winds blew through the area, knocking over the main stage.

Spectator Donna Moore was killed and 75 people were injured, including Costner's road manager.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach joined the crowd Saturday afternoon.

"Tonight's memorial we'll always remember, from generation to generation," he said, recalling last year's "tragic events and the loss of life."

"On the other hand, these fans are here to support Big Valley, and know that no matter how they prepare, there are sometimes things that are unavoidable."

Costner arrived in Edmonton Friday ahead of his Saturday performance with his band Modern West, telling reporters he was terrified when he became trapped under netting as the winds picked up and the stage's support beams and speakers collapsed.

"The wind became an animal and you could see it was almost in slow motion, the big tarp started to move and something felt terribly, terribly wrong," Costner said.

The actor found his road manager, Mark Botting, trapped and bleeding and stayed with him to offer him first aid while calling for help.

Costner said there was no question he and his band would return for this year's festival.

"We knew we wanted to come back right away, we were asked to come back and it was on our calendars and has been there the last year," the actor said. "We're gonna turn the music up and we're gonna celebrate our own lives and everyone who's there and we'll try to think back and remember those who aren't," he added.

At 6 p.m. Saturday, the festival paid tribute to Moore when a lone fiddler took the stage and played a song in her memory. There was also a moment of silence.

Organizers of the festival, now in its 18th year in Camrose, southeast of Edmonton, said this year's stage has been reinforced with more steel and cement, as well as additional braces, should bad weather return to the area.

On Friday night, high winds, rain and lightning interrupted Lambert's set. The singer's performance was stopped while fans took cover during the storm. The weather also wreaked havoc on other outdoor events, including the Eskimos game and the Capital Ex.

Environment Canada's forecast for the Camrose area Saturday calls for a 30 per cent chance of showers in the afternoon and evening, as well as the risk of a thunderstorm. Winds are expected to hit 20 kilometres per hour, but will lighten into the evening.