Heart of the Nation Music Festival

July 5 and 6

Ego Spank will play at Heart of the Nation.

Supplied photo

Manitoba’s summer music festival landscape is a crowded one. But new kids on the block Heart of the Nation are throwing their hat in the ring with their music fest on the southern shores of Lake Winnipeg.

“(We) wanted two things in (our) inaugural year,” festival manager and artistic director Dustin Harder says. “Firstly, we really wanted to showcase the best Manitoba talent, and secondly, we wanted to have an affordable musical event.”

They’re delivering on both promises. With a lineup that includes Attica Riots, Sweet Alibi and House Handshake, the $44 advance admission comes with up to seven nights of festival camping. Hill Top Resort was literally built for the festival camping experience (it was originally constructed for Summer Fest) and features an artesian well-filled swimming area and 4,000 campsites.

In addition to music and camping, the festival will feature food trucks including The Churro Stop and Little Bones Wings, as well as roughly 50 arts and crafts vendors.

Still, the highlight of the festival will be music, with Harder pointing to The Duhks, Brandy Zdan and Ego Spank as acts to watch.

“The talent in (Ego Spank) will make even the most seasoned musicians bow their heads and head back to the woodshed to practice,” he says.

Published in Volume 73, Number 25 of The Uniter (May 30, 2019)

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