Work Hard, Play Harder at the 2015 Boots And Hearts Music Festival

This year on August 6-9, we had the opportunity to attend the fourth annual Boots and Hearts Music Festival held at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ontario. Although we were unable to attend the full four days of the festival, when we did arrive we were immediately drawn in by many of the country music fans attending the festival – we definitely knew we were in an electrifying place before entering the festival event grounds.

boots & hearts music festival sign

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After our nearly three-hour drive, we pitched our tent and went straight into the event grounds to explore before heading to the media tent. It was hard not to be taken back by all the beautiful scenery and the thousands of people on event grounds. As soon as you drove into Burl’s Creek, you were surrounded by thousands of country fans roaming the streets in boots, plaid, smiles, and a drink. It was such a euphoric feeling being surrounded by country fans and country artists from all around the world, in a camping environment filled with tents, trailers, trucks, and alcohol. Although there was a huge area to explore, the event was very well structured with many stages, vendors, and washrooms available for attendees.

Lennon & Maisy
Lennon & Maisy

Love, music and fun were surely in the air, with “Play Me” pianos setup around the grounds for people to let out their musical talents and come together with other musicians. Life-size table games such as beer pong, and tents set up for country lovers to buy artist or festival merchandise. Boots & Hearts and its fans definitely lived out the festival motto of, “Work Hard. Play harder”. This four-day celebration of country music was like a non-stop party. There were more than 30 artists taking the different stages at any point of the day from morning right until night; including headline artists such as Lennon and Maisy, The Stellas, Kaitlin Kozell, Chad Brownlee, Braid Paisley, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Canaan Smith, and Eric Church.

Eric Church
Eric Church

If that isn’t enough to fulfill the motto, the festival also provided loads of activities that were planned on the event site to keep the guests playing hard. Some of these activities include the Coors Banquet Kick-Off Party, The Miss Boots & Hearts Competition presented by Rockstar Energy, The Durango Bull Riding Competition, as well as Late Night Dance Parties held at 11 PM nightly. Just when you have finished watching your favourite headliner of the night, the party always continued. Attendees were all so nice to each other inviting others to party at their campsite or being outgoing and meeting new people at the dance parties at the end of the night. Haystacks, live DJs, line dancing, and just when you think it couldn’t get any better, Boots and Hearts Music Festival was kind enough to host a FREE pancake-gospel breakfast for the first 1000 people to show up in the morning.

This was hands down one of the best festivals to be at, especially as the summer comes to end. We can’t wait to see what they will bring to the table next year!

Thank you to Republic Live for making this possible and see you next year!

 

Images from the Boots and Hearts Music Festival

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[Review also written by Sharon McDonald]