Get ready for some good vibes

As a number of local events and festivals are struggling with the current economic downturn, one area event has actually seen an increase in community support and sponsorship.

Organizers of the second annual Northern Vibe Festival, which begins today in Ophir, are pleased that a number of new partnerships have allowed them to enhance the festival experience.

“I feel very fortunate that people want to invest in the festival. We try to be inclusive, very open to people, and transparent as much as possible,” said Mana Goodfellow, the festival’s marketing and communications coordinator. “I would attribute a lot of our sponsorship to social media – they see how active it is on Facebook – and being able to reach out to us and we can answer very quickly.”

While Planetary Pride remains the title sponsor of the three-day event, new businesses – local and otherwise – have stepped forward with support, including Bodystream which came on board as a music stage sponsor.

“They just recently opened an office [in Sault Ste. Marie], and they wanted to invest in the community,” said Goodfellow. “They contacted us which is lovely. They’re great people so we were happy to make that happen.”

The Northern Vibe Festival features two music stages – the Forest Stage which hosts primarily live entertainment, and the River’s Edge Stage which showcases a variety of DJs and electronic music.

New to the event this year are a Friday night fireworks display from Phatboy Fireworks, additional artisans and vendors, fire spinners and hula hoopers, and art installations and evolving live art projects.

“We want to give people more fun things to discover and more interactive pieces,” Goodfellow told us. “We gave it a little push in terms of ‘festival vibe’, if you will.”

Weekend passes are available today at Planetary Pride until 5 p.m. for $90 and include parking, two nights of camping and all entertainment.

Three-day passes at the gate are $100.

Two-day passes will be available at the gate on Saturday for $60 and include parking, one night of camping and entertainment.

Unfortunately due to security logistics, single day passes are not available.

“Monitoring and policing the site at the moment for a variety of pass-holders is logistically a bit too intense this early in the festival’s life,” Goodfellow explained.

However, should the event’s growing sponsorship trend continue, day passes are something organizers hope to introduce in the near future, as well as shuttle service to and from Sault Ste. Marie.

The Northern Vibe Festival kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. and wraps Sunday afternoon.

Festival entertainment includes:

Friday

Phatboy Fireworks display
K.I.C.K
The Boothill Crooners
The Northern Greys
DJ Fuels
The Dub Selectah
DJ Spruceau
Limix
Hakan' Loob

Saturday

Rotating roster of DJs featuring:
Mike Babcock
DJ Spruceau
Eh Mon
Uncle Stu
and more!

Spiderfingerz
Kylie Precepa
Lewinsky
Britta Wolfert
Vekked
Soo York City / Community Drum Circle
Frank Deresti and the Lake Effect
Scott Huckabay
My Son The Hurricane

Sunday

Morning Mass with the Dub Selectah - reggae and rocksteady down at the River's Edge Stage

For more information about and direction to the Northern Vibe Festival, please click here.