Rockin’ River Music Festival featuring headliner acts brings uptick of visitors to Merritt

The event is back for the first time since 2019 and was made possible through cleanup efforts by the city and the land owners following the November floods.

“When we did reach out to the City of Merritt to come back, they told us this is one of the main events that they need for the community to come back. So we were like, full steam ahead – we’re going to fix the land and we’re going to bring this back for that level of the community as well,” says Festival Director Ryan Balaski.

Headliners include Tim McGraw, Darius Rucker, and Mackenzie Porter.

Around 40,000 people are expected to come down to the music festival that runs from Thursday (July 28) until Sunday (July 31).

With a huge influx of visitors, the economic impact will be felt by the whole community.

“Every business, every commercial entity, we’re not complaining when we’re too full and this is a great boost for the economy,” says Merritt Mayor Linda Brown.

Restaurants like UK Cuisine are preparing for a rush of customers from the festival.

“Last evening was really busy so we are expecting more this evening. So we are really preparing everything ahead (of time),” says Kulbar Dhanju with UK Cuisine.

It’s expected that people staying at the campsites will be trickling into the town for a bite to eat and some drinks.

“We’re going to be having lots of cold drinks, cold beers on ice and water. Gotta stay hydrated!” a person camping said.

The full lineup of music acts can be viewed at Rockin’ River 2022.

by Connor Gunn

Rockin’ River Music Festival featuring headliner acts brings uptick of visitors to Merritt

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