Is there anything better than listening to your favourite band while sitting outside in the sun with friends, family, and fellow music-lovers? Very few experiences can top the feeling you get from soaking up fresh air and soundwaves simultaneously. So, as summer approaches, we bring you "Festival Season" - a special 3-part series on music festivals.

Music festivals appear to pop up out of nowhere - in a city park, in the green space beside a lake, or on a farm next to a river. All of a sudden, a field becomes a dance floor for a main stage; or a leafy forest grove transforms into an intimate music workshop. It seems instantaneous, but a festival takes months—and sometimes years—to plan and produce. Staff and volunteers work tirelessly to bring music fans the most entertaining, uplifting, safe, and memorable experience possible.

In this series, we talk to a few of the wonderful people that work around the clock to bring us these magical events.

Part 2 - ARIANA DALIE & CRAIG SMITH: Four Winds Festival
 Ariana and Craig are "The Happiness Mafia", a live music event and production company, that—in addition to presenting concerts throughout the year—is responsible for creating the Four Winds Music Festival. Four Winds takes place July 12-14 at the Riverstone Retreat in Durham, Ontario. This is the festival’s second year, and the lineup is a lovingly-curated offering of roots-rock, folk, singer-songwriter, world music and bluegrass. 
In this episode Ariana and Craig talk about how a phone call home from Antarctica started them on their current path, and how their passion for music plus their individual strengths enable them to create a shared dream: presenting year-round concerts, plus a 3-day summer festival on 136 acres of green space in Southern Ontario. 

More info:
Four Winds Music Fest
The Happiness Mafia
The Ontarians

Music samples in this episode:
"Trippin'" - Ontarians (More How  It Is, upcoming release July 9, 2024)
"Hey Moon (A Campfire Song)" - Joel Plaskett (Single, 2023)
"Juan Charrasqueado" - Quique Escamilla (Encomienda, 2019)
"Lucky To Find" - Jolie Smith (2024)
"Time" - Ontarians (The Greatest Short Story Never Told, 2021)

Thank you for listening!
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MUSIC BUDDY IS:
Jane Gowan (host, producer, editor)
Tim Vesely (co-producer)
Michael Deibert (admin & production assistant)

The show's theme song, "Human Stuff," is written by Jane Gowan and Tim Vesely, and performed by Jane and Tim, with additional vocals by Steve Wright and Connie Kostiuk

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This podcast is brought to you by Morning Run Productions.