Salamander Music Festival adds new features, keeps growing

The fourth annual Salamander Music Festival wrapped up this weekend in Brandon with steady year-over-year growth and a record crowd since it launched in 2023.

Held at Rideau Park, the three-day event featured Manitoba-based musicians, artisan vendors and food vendors, while also introducing new accessibility and affordability initiatives aimed at expanding its audience.

Festival planning committee president Jennifer Watson said about 600 people attended over the entire weekend last year, and this year will likely surpass it.

“The festival recorded approximately 10 per cent growth year over year during its first two editions,” Watson told the Sun on Sunday.

“While final numbers for 2026 were not yet available, last night we had more people in the park than we’ve ever had before. I would think we would be on set to hit or exceed what we’ve done in previous years.”

Watson said the festival was created in response to a gap in Brandon’s arts scene after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the things we noticed after the pandemic was there wasn’t really a music and art festival in Brandon anymore, and we saw that that was something Brandon really needed,” Watson said. “Our whole goal is really to showcase Manitoba and Brandon-made products.”

This year’s lineup featured artists from Brandon and across Manitoba. Friday night’s headliner, Kates Outlaw, came from Dauphin, while Saturday night’s headliner, An Unexpected End, is from Plum Coulee.

Watson said providing local performers with an opportunity to play on a larger stage remains a central objective of the festival.

“Really, it’s a place for local artists to get a kickoff on a big stage,” she said.

In addition to live music, the festival included five food vendors offering sandwiches, perogies, garlic sausage, dirty sodas, slush drinks and other specialty items, she said. An artisan market featured 14 vendors selling handmade crystals, charms, clothing, purses, bags and imported Mexican food products.

The festival has continued to evolve based on feedback from attendees.

After hearing from patrons in the first year about the need for a quiet retreat space, organizers introduced a sensory-safe tent equipped with headphones and shaded seating.

This year, organizers added a discounted seniors admission rate alongside the existing youth rate, following requests from older attendees.

“We heard last year from a lot of our senior clients that they’d like to see a seniors rate,” Watson said.

Rather than citing major operational difficulties, Watson said the biggest challenge remains awareness.

“Mostly just making sure that the word gets out and people know that we do it,” she said.

Organizers plan to continue holding the festival on the third weekend of July each year and are already looking ahead to 2027, which will mark the event’s fifth anniversary.

“For next year, we’re really looking to ramp it up and really do some special, special big things,” Watson said.

One new element this year was the introduction of an online 50/50 fundraiser. Because of permitting limitations, tickets could only be purchased digitally, and organizers learned that many attendees preferred a cash option.

Watson said adding cash ticket sales for the 50/50 is one of the improvements being considered for next year.

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

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