One-day concert planned for Hamilton’s Gage Park, organizers work with city to ensure safe event

There will be a free, one-day music festival in Hamilton’s Gage Park later this month.

It’s being organized by Festival of Friends, and general manager Robert Rakoczy says steps are being taken to comply with COVID-19 safety requirements.

“One of the benefits is the size of Gage Park,” Rakoczy says, “which allows for a lot of space to spread out, a lot of elbow room.”

Rakoczy says the group has a large number of extra volunteers who will help keep people spaced apart during the show. Festival of Friends has also come up with plans to screen people for contact tracing as they come in, he adds.

He also says there are plans to have a mobile vaccination clinic on site, during the one-day festival on Sept. 18. “I’m hoping that we can capture a bunch of people that maybe haven’t got around to it yet.”

Festival of Friends says the event, called “Concert in the Park,” will feature 30 artists on four stages.

Rakoczy says the focus is on local talent — everybody who hasn’t had a chance to work in the bar scene or just perform in general” throughout the pandemic.

Two headliners will be announced, 24 hours in advance, a measure that is partly designed to keep crowds from getting too large.

“We don’t people planning in advance and driving in from Timmins, for example. This is a local event for Hamilton.”