Grey Highlands council will have a staff report about a large-scale concert proposed for a rural area of the municipality at its next meeting on Sept. 18.
At council’s meeting on Sept. 4, the Lit Galaxy Music Festival, proposed to be held in Grey Highlands in July 2025, was a hot topic of conversation.
The public galleries were packed with local residents on-hand to express their opposition to the proposed music festival.
David Scoon and Brian Ross appeared before council as official delegates and raised a number of concerns about the request from iRadios Inc. for a permit to host a concert event, expected to attract up to 25,000 visitors, on a 150 acre rural property near Duncan.
“We question the ability of the promoter to stage a festival of this magnitude,” Scoon said.
Ross said the map for the proposed festival plans to use a road that doesn’t exist and would locate the parking and camping areas in a field on a neighbouring property
“The field belongs to a different family,” he said.
The proposal would see a music festival held on a rural property near Duncan on the Grey Highlands/The Blue Mountains townline. The event would include camping, parking, multiple stages as well as vendors of commercial goods and food.
At the conclusion of the presentation from the delegates, Grey Highlands CAO Karen Govan said staff have been working on a report about the proposed concert for the past several weeks. The report will be before council for consideration at the Sept. 18 council meeting.
“We certainly do share some of the neighbours’ concerns,” Govan said.
Members of council did not say much about the proposed music festival in response to the delegation.
“Hearing your concerns and questions will help with any decisions moving forward,” said Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen.
Mayor Paul McQueen also pointed out that the property is in the Niagara Escarpment Plan lands and the promoters will need to go through the Niagara Escarpment Commission for permission for the concert as well as the municipality.
