Kempenfest Festival 2015

This past weekend was the annual 45th Kempenfest Festival in the heart of downtown Barrie.

The owner of Loraday has enjoyed being an active member of the Rotary Club of Barrie for 13 years and volunteering for Barrie’s Kempenfest event. Over the past 13 years of volunteering, the Loraday family and friends have been volunteering their time and effort towards helping the Rotary beer tent and main entertainment stage during this summer event. Profit from Kempenfest is used by the Rotary Club of Barrie to continue their work with Royal Victoria Hospital, YMCA, Food Bank, Christmas Cheer, Rotary Islands and the Southshore Centre.

There was an amazing turn out at Kempenfest over the long weekend, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Unfortunately, there was a damper on the events of Sunday afternoon with the storm that ripped through Barrie. After all was said and done, it was the people who volunteered their time to help out with the event who rushed out right after the storm was over to clean up. They were well organized, and had the place cleaned up and the miscellaneous items that were thrown astray returned to their rightful spot in a quick, efficient manner. Even though performers usually play rain or shine, the concert for George Canyon on the Sunday night was cancelled due to it being too dangerous. The organizers for Kempenfest are working with George Canyon to work out a date for his return to Barrie.  As an added bonus, the Martels have offered to do one more show before their retirement this year, which would definitely make up for some of the lost costs over the weekend.  

All in all, the weekend was great fun for all who attended and a big thank you goes out to all of those who volunteered their time.  

The team here at Loraday can’t wait for Kempenfest 2016! 

Images C/O City of Barrie CTV News & The Rotary Club of Barrie