The annual Rogers Bayfest music festival has grown from humble roots since it’s founding over a decade ago with just a single performance to currently spanning two consecutive weekends where more than 100,000 attendees are treated to shows by top artists and numerous emerging acts.
Hosted in its original beautiful setting of Centennial Park in downtown Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, on the southern banks of Lake Huron, the 2010 version of the festival set a new high in terms of number of performances.
The first weekend offered rock headliners such as the Scorpions, Rush, and Weezer, followed by a second weekend of country that included top artists like Keith Urban and Alan Jackson.
And this year for the first time, it was all capped by yet another performance day featuring The Black Eyed Peas.
Bayfest is not only one of the largest tourist attractions for the area, but is also one of its biggest economic stimulators.
In fact, it was named the Best Business/Event Of The Year for 2009 by the Ontario Tourism Council.
Founded by the late Jim Stokely and still under the direction of his wife Michelle, it is a non-profit endeavor, with all proceeds going back into the community.
Sound reinforcement for Bayfest was supplied by Showworks, a fast-growing production and system installation company based in Mississauga, Ontario.
Showworks, which also provided lighting, video and other production for the second consecutive year, is headed by veteran touring mix engineer Geoff Kent.
In addition, Rob Deslauriers of SF Marketing of Canada lent his talents to the sound system design.
The large main stage, owned by the festival organization, hosts all performances. It’s the focal point of a huge lawn extending well over 600 feet back that hosts audiences of up to 20,000 per show.
For the first weekend, Showworks chose to utilize two EAW KF760 large-format line arrays, flown to each side of the stage, to provide primary coverage, but things changed notably on the second weekend, with the sound team deciding to deploy the recently introduced EAW KF740 line array modules as the mains.
The KF740 delivers output resembling the much larger KF760, but at a muchreduced footprint and lower weight. Each module incorporates eight drivers (four- 10 LF, dual-8 MF and dual-1.4-in-exit HF) into a cabinet measuring just 13 inches high by 40 inches wide.
A symmetrical design, large horn and spaced woofers foster broadband pattern control, and the system can be further optimized with the company’s Focusing processing and Resolution software. KF740 modules can also integrate with KF760 or KF730 arrays for additional flexibility. (For more about the KF740, see Designer Notebook in the April 2010 issue.)
