Elizabeth Doney Havre Daily News edoney@havredailynews.com
A new family event is coming to the Great Northern Fairgrounds on Saturday. The first “Rockin-the-Hills Battle of the Bands” event has been coordinated by the Great Northern Fair Foundation and is planned as an annual affair. Rock-in-the-Hills will feature seven local bands performing live throughout the evening, battling it out for the people’s choice vote and the cash reward. “The idea for Rockin-the- Hills was concieved last year during the fair,” said Fair Foundation member Missy Boucher. “We are always looking for new fund raisers, to improve the fairgrounds, and for something new and different to do. We are extremely excited about the music line-up. They are all local and all good bands. People who don’t usually get out to the bars don’t get to hear them. At the fairgrounds, the atmosphere will allow everybody of every age an enviroment where they feel comfortable. “When we started putting this event together we advertised all across the Hi-Line, but this year, we only received applications from local bands,” Boucher said. “That is to be expected with a new event. We are pretty sure that once the word gets out neighboring communities will want to join in.” In addition to five hours of live music by seven bands, fun for younger kids will include a giant sand box loaded with toys and trucks, which will be located on south end of Bigger Better Barn. “Kids love music and dancing, but we had a different event where we had sand and it went over really well,” Boucher said. At the opposite end of the Bigger Better Barn, coordinators will host a beer garden. Budwieser/Havre Distributors will be serving beer and wine coolers. Tables and seatings will be available. Gatekeepers will be checking identification and providing wrist bands required for people to be in the garden. “We will also have a consession stand provided by the Havre Baseball Association, which will be a fund raiser for their program,” Boucher said. “The menu is going to be a surprise, but we expect they will have hot food and snacks. “The dance floor will be between the two stages,” she added. “When one band gets done playing on one stage, the next band will be set up on the second stage and ready to go. People can vote for the band they like the most for $1 per vote and they can vote as many times as they like. The band that receives the most votes will win their pot of cash.” The gate will open for Rockin-the-Hills Battle of the Bands at 5 p.m. and the first band, Enzymatic will kick-off at 5:30 p.m. followed by Milk River Band at 6:15 p.m., Barley Music, at 7 p.m., Borderline at 7:45 p. m., Tarp at 8:30 p.m., Blind Luck at 9:15 p.m., and Punished at 10 p.m. There will be a $2 admission fee and Fair Foundation members will be selling T-shirts, with the First Annual Rockin-the- Hills logo for $15. Proceeds will benefit the construction of a new crow’s nest. “The new crow’s nest will be completely portable, so we will be able to move it and it will be accessible to everybody,” Boucher said. “Also, by moving the crow’s next we will be able to bring in monster trucks and other events that need more room.”
