Republic Live, organizers of the Boots and Hearts Music Festival, announced earlier today that year two was a resounding success in terms of entertainment and for the bulk of fans, with no major health or security incidents and outstanding performances by all the artists. However, severe weather on Friday affected some key logistics on the grounds including a 45-minute main stage closure as well as a small percentage of fans being refused entry due to uncampable grounds as a result of torrential rainfall. Any fans that were refused entry to Boots and Hearts on Friday August 2, 2013 are eligible for refunds and will also be offered an opportunity to buy three-day general admission tickets for Boots and Hearts 2014 for a significantly reduced rate of $99.99.
The final evening of the festival saw the announcement of country superstar Blake Shelton confirmed as a headlining artists for next year’s event, which will be his first show in Ontario since 2011, and a limited number of tickets will be available through a pre-sale starting at 10 am EST on Wednesday, August 21st for $169.99 exclusively at www.bootsandhearts.com
“It broke our hearts to have to turn fans away at the gates on Friday as a result of the severe weather and the washouts. We promised we’d do our best to make it right for them so we will not only be refunding them, but also offering a full weekend ticket to Boots and Hearts 2014 for less than the price of a single day ticket,” said Shannon McNevan. “Aside from the impact the weather had on Friday, everyone had a blast, patrons and artists alike. We had multiple artists tell us after their shows that the crowd was insane, and they couldn’t believe how much energy and love the crowd gave them.
As Blake Shelton announced himself in a video message to the Boots and Hearts crowd, he is confirmed as one of our 2014 headliners and a limited number of tickets will be available in a pre-sale on August 21st. We also recognize that as a festival of this size, there will always be misinformation circulating of incidences that simply did not occur, and we would like to confirm that our community partners, EMS and Durham Regional Police, have both reported that there were no major health or security incidents for the duration of the weekend’s activities. As is the case with this being only our second year, we learned a lot about our grounds this weekend, both what we did well, and what we can do better, and are already planning how we can make improvements for next year.”
Looking forward to next year, Republic Live is currently debriefing for reconfiguration for 2014 with their internal team and external partners looking to re-work some of the logistics on the grounds including the designated camping areas, as well as access to the grounds with traffic flow patterns and will continue to work with the Municipality of Clarington, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and all community partners to develop the most efficient plan available for the amount of people attending. Fans have always been advised that access to grounds will take several hours and although refinements may take place, it is typical of international festivals of this nature for fans to be waiting in traffic for several hours or more as all congregate at key peak times. Based on fan feedback and exit surveys of this year, Boots and Hearts 2014 is looking to be another sell out year as more than 80% that attended say they will be back and with only one headliner announced to date, organizers are fully expecting a sell out of the early bird allotment of tickets priced at $169.99. Additional tickets, camping and parking options will be released later this fall, along with other premium items, and organizers are once again encouraging fans to act as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Boots and Hearts is an annual country music festival event run by Republic Live taking place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario from July 31st – August 3rd, 2014 with headliner Blake Shelton confirmed to perform at his first Ontario date since 2011. Boots and Hearts features 3 stages, a Family Zone, BOOMTOWN Entertainment area, Sports and Outdoor Zone, midway, market stalls, food vendors and much more. Children under 12 years of age receive free admission. Pre-sale tickets for $169.99 with limited quantities will be available for purchase at 10 am EST on August 21, 2013, exclusively at www.bootsandhearts.com
