MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Spring 2020

59 PADDLING words :: Colin Field When Free Spirit Tours gets excited about an event they’re hosting, you know it’s going to be fun. And their Rockin’ the River event promises to be just that. The plan is for boats (canoes, kayaks, paddleboards) to put in at Klondike Park, south of Wasaga Beach, every hour from about 11 am to 3 pm. Making the two-hour paddle down to Schooner Town, there will be about eight stops along the way featuring local musicians. “It was Joel Dawson’s idea,” says Free Spirit co-owner Jennie Elmslie. “We were sitting at Northwinds one afternoon and we knew the town wanted to do something on the river, and we were like, ‘What can we do?’ Joel said, ‘Well there’s nothing better than music.’” If you’ve attended the Guitar Trail at Blue Mountain Resort then you have an idea of what this will be like. “What they do at the Mountain is, as you hike up the hill, there are musicians along the way,” says Elmslie. “Basically this is the same concept. But we’re doing it on the Nottawasaga River. You go through the [Wasaga Beach] Provincial Park land and then through a residential area. There will be different musicians based along the way so that your paddle is always accompanied by music. And we’ll have different genres of music. We’ve been in contact with a few homeowners that are more than happy to have musicians on their property and we’re meeting with the Park soon. We’ve partnered with the town of Wasaga Beach for the event.” Free Spirit will have 40 boats on hand, but of course you can bring your own if you want. Still in the early days of planning, a lot of businesses have expressed interest. “The Collingwood Circus Club has piped up and they’d like to do some stuff,” she says. “Wasaga Beach Yoga wants to be involved; every time we mention it, businesses want to get involved.” While they haven’t come up with pricing yet, it will be an all- ages, all-abilities event. Chris Noble is one of the booked acts so far, with others to be announced. “I would love it to become an annual event. I’d love it to become a festival, but this is our first go at it. We’ll see how it goes,” adds Elmslie. “At the end of the day, I think it’ll just be fun.” We do too. Stay tuned to freespirit-tours.com to learn more about who will be playing and more as details continue to develop. KLONDIKE PARK SCHOONERTOWN “There will be different musicians based along the way so that your paddle is always accompanied by music.” ROCKIN’ THE RIVER The Nottawasaga has never sounded so sweet "The riverbanks are alive, with the sound of music..." COLIN FIELD