Chris Lowrey
QUYON June 30, 2017
Every year on the Canada Day long weekend, the population of Quyon explodes as hundreds of country music fans invade the town with their trailers in tow for the Quyon JamFest.
This year’s event was no different as more than 200 trailers set up shop on the Quyon JamFest site. The festivities got under way on June 29 and ran throughout the weekend.
Friday was an especially popular night for the music festival as it coincided with Quyon’s Canada 150 celebrations.
Hundreds of people milled around the site as the parade wound its way through town. Many more took a break from the music later on at night to catch a glimpse of the fireworks show before heading back to catch the last set.
The dance floor was packed as dozens of couples twirled and spun their way around the front of the stage.
The event kicked off on Thursday night with a performance by Garry Cummings and friends, followed by an open mic night.
Friday and Saturday were the busy days as the music got under way in the early afternoon and went long after the sun went down.
The harsh weather, although muddying some people’s cowboy boots, didn’t deter anyone from coming out for a good time.
Hundreds of people brought lawn chairs and set them up under a series of tents set up to keep patrons out of the rain.
Just a few months ago the entire JamFest site was under nearly a foot of water during the flooding that affected most of the Pontiac region – but hit Quyon especially hard.
Cummings, who is also the JamFest music coordinator, said organizers weren’t worried about the water levels affecting this year’s event.
Cummings said that despite some soggy grass, everything ran as smooth as possible.
The Quyon JamFest offers plenty of local flavour when it comes to musical stylings. Many of the performers come from Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.
The people who come to the JamFest every year come from all over the region. Cummings said that he knows people who regularly make the trip up from Kingston.
The event has plenty of regular attendees, who become familiar faces as the years go by. The sense of familiarity was evident as those in attendance showed a very tight knit – albeit makeshift – community.
