Taber is known not just for its corn, but also its musical entertainment.
Promoter Ken Holst of Spider Entertainment grew up on a cattle farm near Hays, Alta., and was looking for the perfect name for his first foray into an outdoor music festival for rural Alberta.
Thus, Cornstock was born in 2023.
Read Also
Alberta crop diversification centres receive funding
$5.2 million of provincial funding pumped into crop diversity research centres
“We knew there would be a little bit of a (confusion) risk because of Cornfest (a free family event in August), but we liked the play on words with Woodstock and corn stalk worded a little differently,” said Holst.
“We hope people have that same vibe in the celebration of music. Last year we had people dressed up in corn suits. We relish that theme, with people dressing up and having fun, dancing to the music.”
Agriculture-related businesses have seen value in the rural festival.
Lantic Sugar is a stage sponsor for this year’s show, while Gouw Onions has donated a refrigeration trailer for the beer gardens, with proceeds going to a youth sports charity. Bluewave Energy and Rocky Mountain Equipment are also sponsors.
Holst hopes corn will be on the menu at this year’s show, which is scheduled for late July.
“Hopefully they will have their food tent serving fresh corn this year. Last year it was a cooler summer so the crop wasn’t quite ready, but the year before it was,” said Holst.
“Hopes are Cornstock will be the very first taste of Taber corn for the year for people. “
He said most people who attend the show come from outside the region. Last year, 87 per cent were from outside the Municipal District of Taber while 52 per cent were from outside the province.
Holst said a family from South Korea who were visiting southern Alberta last year took in the festival last year, while people from as far away as Ontario and Detroit come specifically for Cornstock.
Economic studies have shown the concert drew $1.5 million of economic activity last year.
“After COVID, there wasn’t much for music festivals in rural communities. We were kind of the first ones for start ups to go, other than the ones who were already set up like Country Thunder,” said Holst.
“But those for the most part were larger urban centres.”
Holst, who is owner and chief executive officer of Spider Entertainment, said he hears of stories of people who still do not believe that an agriculture town with a population of slightly less than 10,000 could attract the type of acts featured at Cornstock.
For example, an employee wearing a Cornstock ‘25 T-shirt with a photo of the band Glass Tiger on it led to an argument at a local store.
“There was a guy who was really hard on her, saying, ‘as if Glass Tiger is coming to Taber,’ ” Holst said.
His employee replied that similar artists come to Taber all the time.
“ ‘Nope, Glass Tiger has never come to Taber and never will.’ He was quite belligerent with her and she stopped trying to correct him. There is still that mentality out there that small rural communities can only attract tribute bands. ‘This is Taber; nothing happens in Taber.’ ”
Holst said he started the festival with a plan for how it would progress and is amazed at how quickly it has grown.
“That plan has been really expedited and accelerating way quicker than we thought. That’s good, but at times, I feel like I almost have to hop on and hold on because maybe it’s going too fast,” he said.
”We learned a lot of lessons with finances, how to manage bands, how things can flow better. We pride ourselves on taking care of the artists and all the people attending. You’ll never have 100 per cent of the people happy, but we want to get as close to that as we can.”
The three-day festival is truly a community event, opening up to groups such as Taber Titans Charity, Taber Food Bank, W.R. Myers Rugby Club, Trail 77, Safe Haven Women’s Shelter and Taber Gymnastics Club , which have used Cornstock as a fundraiser.
“We love the people come from far and wide, and many are from the agricultural community who support it, which we are thankful for. That shows success for us,” said Holst.
