The Reklaws are bringing their unique brand of country music to the Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.
The Ontario country music stars will headline Surrey Canada Day festivities along with Goldie Boutilier and Garret T. Willie.
“Cloverdale always looks forward to Canada Day,” said Paul Orazietti, the executive director of the Cloverdale BIA. “Now, more than ever, we’ve become very patriotic and because of that it’s a way of celebrating our identity.”
He said a headliner like the Reklaws adds to the “cachet” of the holiday celebration in Cloverdale and elevates the patriotic overtones.
“Having Canada Day on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, which is the largest entertainment district in the whole city, allows the event to get even bigger,” Orazietti noted.
He said the city is working with the BIA and the Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce to do some economic studies about how big events impact Surrey and more specifically Cloverdale.
“We want to attach some dollar values to these events,” Orazietti added. “So when someone like The Reklaws comes to town, we have a more accurate idea of what they bring to the community.”
In a press release from the City of Surrey, Mayor Brenda Locke said she was “thrilled” to invite people from across the region to Surrey and to welcome the brother-and-sister duo to Cloverdale for one of the city’s biggest events of the year and one of the largest Canada Day celebrations in the country.
“In a time when unity and patriotism are more important than ever, Surrey Canada Day is an opportunity for our community to come together, celebrate our country, and honour the spirit of our nation,” Mayor Locke said. “I’m especially excited to see Canadian sibling duo, The Reklaws, headlining our event this year.”
The mayor added that she looked forward to celebrating Canada Day with the city’s residents.
Jenna and Stuart Walker are the sibling duo that make up The Reklaws. Their debut single “Long Live the Night,” was chosen as the theme song in both 2018 and 2019 for the CFL’s Thursday Night Football games on TSN. The pair have also received eight JUNO nominations, and have won nine Canadian Country Music Association awards.
According to the release, Goldie Boutilier, a Canadian singer-songwriter, is known for music that has “cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia.”
Garret T. Willie is from Kingcome Inlet off the coast of B.C.. Willie’s music is “what the world has been missing for a while: a contemporary take on hardscrabble blues and the purest and rawest rock 'n' roll to follow its teachings thereafter,” the release noted.
Surrey Canada Day is being presented again this year by Prospera Credit Union. Event festivities begin at 10 a.m. July 1 and run until 10:30 p.m.
The Siam Stage returns this year and it will feature other events, presentations, and cultural acts, including some Indigenous cultural presentations as part of an Indigenous Village.
There will also be a Family Stage, which will feature family-oriented entertainment, and a Community Stage, which will have many local performers and some dance battles. A DJ will spin tracks on the Community Stage when there are no performances scheduled.
There will be several food trucks on-site for Surrey Canada Day, along with exhibitors and vendors, amusement rides, and a beer garden.
Of course a massive fireworks finale awaits everyone who stays there late.
Along with the sponsorship from Prospera, Surrey Canada Day received grants from both the Province of B.C. and the Federal Government.
For more information, visit surreycanadaday.ca.
