What’s next for Prince George festivals amid Cariboo Rocks the North not returning?

Even though no reason was provided, the City of Prince George’s Manager of Entertainment Glen Mikkelsen said the City is already looking ahead to other potential festivals, which could include a potential revamping of Cariboo Rocks the North.

“It was such a great successful event, we’re looking at different ways it could be set up, different entertainment options, so it won’t be exactly the same, but it could come back in a altered or changed form,” Mikkelsen said.

“We’re hopeful, curious, to see what other entertainment opportunities are going to be coming up. We’re looking at various things right now and we’re just excited to see what might happen here in the next six, 12 months,” he continued.

While the City is exploring other options, we shouldn’t expect anything new this summer, as large music festivals take a long time to plan. Mikkelsen hopes to bring new events by the summer of 2025.

99.3 Rewind radio afternoon host Darren Coogan speculated the reason the festival isn’t coming back is a changing demographic.

“There’s no question that the artists that were coming in were for an older demographic. And as people get a little bit older, perhaps they are less inclined maybe to go to some of these shows or perhaps go for all three days. I think perhaps if anything happens in the future, maybe artists that perhaps draw upon maybe a bit of a younger demographic as well as classic rock fans might be a nice combination to see,” Coogan said.

Coogan, like many others who attended the event, really enjoyed Cariboo Rocks the North, calling it fantastic not just for the music but for the vibes and atmosphere too. Whatever the future holds for new festivals, he says the genre itself isn’t the be-all-end-all, what matters most is that it connects with the audience.

“You need something that is in tune with what the city of Prince George is all about. I think to a large degree, Prince George is a blue collar, kind of more rock and roll kind of town. So I think a festival that does feature rock artists from a classic rock perspective and maybe into the 90s would probably be a fantastic opportunity for us to enjoy some of that music,” he said.

Regardless of what the future holds, it sounds like we can expect more music festivals to return to Prince George, although for the immediate future at least we won’t be getting Cariboo Rocks the North.

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by Tommy Osborne

What’s next for Prince George festivals amid Cariboo Rocks the North not returning?

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