Manitoba Music
Rainbow Trout Music Festival Celebrates New Local Music
For music fans looking to discover new artists at a small festival in the pristine outdoors, the Rainbow Trout Music Festival (RTMF) might just be the perfect summer event. The sixth annual event, which runs August 15-17 just south of St. Malo, offers three days of music, camping, swimming, craft vendors, and more.
The festival has a well-deserved reputation for being proudly hyper local. This year's lineup boasts over 25 acts, of which most are homegrown. And its a diverse group of Manitobans, at that, spanning from hip hop to experimental electro rock to indie pop to roots to Mexican-tinged prog rock (and pretty much everything in between).
"Rainbow Trout was founded by local musicians and our dedication to promoting local music came about naturally," says organizing team member Ben Jones. "It's also easy to focus on local music when there are so many amazing bands in Manitoba!"
New music is also something to expect at RTMF; almost of the 2014 acts are festival newbies. The roster includes the likes of ATLAAS, Bud Gordon, Demetra, JD and the Sunshine Band, J.R. Hill and the Magic Bears, Mahogany Frog, The Mariachi Ghost, Sibyl, Slow Spirit, Sweet Alibi, Surprise Party, and The Lytics. Check out the schedule in the Live Music Calendar and/or download the free Manitoba Live app.
RMTF has grown up quite a bit since its start, which was inspired by a weekend of camping at an abandoned gravel quarry in 2009. Founded and organized by a group of volunteers, the indie fest has already sold out of its weekend passes for 2014. The team behind RTMF still has some big plans for the future.
"We have some serious infrastructure plans for the fest, and soon we will be due for a bigger and better stage," says Jones. "We are always trying to make the festival better not only for fans to attend, but for bands to perform at as well. There are also plans to bring in some acts that you wouldn't expect to see at a festival that has under 1,000 fans in attendance. We are dedicated to making the festival as good as it can possibly be."
Rainbow Trout Music Festival Trailer from Ben Jones on Vimeo.