Downtown Barrie was transformed into a mini country music festival on Saturday night as the city’s popular Troubadour Festival kicked off a summer’s worth of live music.

“This is taking something that has happened in the past and trying to do something new with it,” Mayor Alex Nuttall told the large crowd gathered at Meridian Place before jokingly promising to turn the stage over to someone with a bit more musical talent.

The Troubadour Festival is more than just a concert series — it’s a celebration of community, talent, and summer in Downtown Barrie,” said Downtown Barrie BIA executive director Craig Stevens. “From showcasing incredible local artists through our new Local Opener Showcase, to hosting major Canadian acts like Dean Brody on our beautiful waterfront stage, we’re proud to offer something truly special.”

New this year is the Local Opener Showcase, which offers a unique opportunity for local artists to open for Troubadour Festival’s main stage headliners. Artists are handpicked by a local jury, and then get the chance to perform live at Meridian Place.

Local country singer and Wasaga Beach native Lance Dobinson was the first artist to perform as part of that new showcase. He quickly got the crowd grooving in their cowboy boots, as he took to the stage as the local opener for CCMA- and Juno Award-winning Canadian country star Dean Brody — who took to the stage around 8:30 p.m.

Audrey Gelinas Girard and Alex Burawski heard about the festival through friends, and wanted to see what it was all about. 

As a local artist himself, Burawski is impressed the festival gives up-and-coming musicians a chance to get in front of an audience in this way, telling BarrieToday he may even consider applying for future events.

“It’s nice that they’re getting everyone together in Barrie. I would like it if they did this a little more often too,” he said.

Having previously lived in Alberta, Gelinas Girard is a big country music fan, telling BarrieToday they were planning to stick around for headliner Dean Brody.

His music, she said, just “speaks to the heart.”

Downtown Barrie resident Bob Lemieux and his wife were among the growing crowd at Meridian Place Saturday night. 

The couple regularly takes walks along the lakeshore, and often stops in to see what is happening downtown — including on this night. 

“We like walking by the lake and enjoying the entertainment. We appreciate the fact that downtown is pedestrianized. We believe it’s not pedestrianized often enough and they need to do this much more often,” he said. “It gets people downtown and helps local businesses.”

As the music of Dobinson wafted across the square, Lemieux told BarrieToday he feels it’s a very positive initiative the city provides for local artists to perform as part of the festival. 

“There are food venues and it’s a great opportunity for people to just get together. We just wanted to come down here and check it out.”

The festival returns on July 26 with rock band The 99s, an eight-piece group known for playing hits across eras and genres.

On Aug. 16, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Hawksley Workman will take the stage, while multi-award-winning country star Brett Kissel will close out the series on September 6.