The fifth annual Roots North Revisited Music Festival is still a go for early this fall and will be held at a unique venue - the Sunset Barrie Drive-In Theatre.
All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Orillia Youth Centre, which has missed out on most of its usual annual fundraising efforts, says the Front Street facility’s director, Kevin Gangloff.
“We’ve partnered with Home Depot over the past several years and a lot of that fundraising has slowed down because we can’t do a lot of the on-site stuff because of COVID,” he explained.
“In September, we host our tag days and as of right now there won’t be any of that fundraising either, so it has become a bit of a challenge,” said Gangloff.
Thankfully, Roots North found a safe venue to host the Orillia Youth Centre’s marquee fundraising event; last year’s event at Fern Resort raised $20,000.
“We shifted gears and I reached out to the drive-in theatre and proposed the idea. They said they would love to offer the space to host the event,” Gangloff said.
This year's event is slated for Saturday, Sept. 26. Details - including the performers - will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Everyone is in tough right now, so for the drive-in theatre to give up a Saturday night, a prime-time slot, it’s huge,” Gangloff said.
“They’ve been great to work with and we are very fortunate because without them we don’t have a fundraiser this year.”
The experience of the event will be a unique one for concert-goers. The performers will be performing live on stage, but their performance will also be projected live above on the movie screen.
Like a movie at the drive-in, the sound will be piped into cars using a radio frequency.
“It’s going to be really cool and I’m excited about that aspect,” Gangloff said.
The Orillia Youth Centre is expecting the event to be well attended and well supported by community members.
Last week after putting out the ‘save the date’ announcement, five tickets were sold in the first hour.
"People are excited to see an event and want to get out. We think this will do well in terms of moving us forward at the Youth Centre,” Gangloff said.
All the programs and support offered to local youths at the Orillia Youth Centre are free of charge. With this year's concert being the only fundraiser for the centre this year, its success is imperative.
Currently, the Orillia Youth Centre building remains closed, but Gangloff and volunteers have been finding other ways to connect with some of the more vulnerable youths in the community.
“A lot of youths have been disconnected by this virus and the pandemic, so it’s important to check in on them and keep them engaged,” Gangloff said.
Tickets and more information can be found at: www.orilliayouthcentre.ca
