Area 506 2019. Image: Dan Culberson, Submitted.
The AREA 506 music festival will return to the old Coast Guard site next year, organizers announced Thursday.
The fifth-annual festival will be staged again at Fundy Quay, the formal name for the site, over the New Brunswick Day long weekend, July 31 through August 2.
The popular New Brunswick music festival was moved to that location from Long Wharf last year because Port Saint John needing the area for commercial activities.
Fundy Quay Inc., a subsidiary of Elias Management Group, recently announced plans to develop the site into a multi-use development featuring a mix of commercial and residential spaces. AREA 506 will remain at Fundy Quay until development work gets underway.
Ray Gracewood, chair of the AREA 506 Committee, says they’re thrilled to work with the city on the event for next year.
“AREA 506 has always had the luxury of fantastic waterfront locations, whether it was at Long Wharf for our first three festivals, or our 2019 location at Fundy Quay,” said Gracewood in a release. “Working with a partner who clearly understands the value of an event like AREA 506 makes the process incredibly easy, so we’re humbled and proud to once again call our city’s historic backdrop home for the province’s best party.”
The Water Street location received a lot of positive feedback last year from attendees. As the festival continues to grow every year, festival organizers and city officials agreed that anchoring the event in the heart of uptown Saint John was a must.
“AREA 506 is a top destination event and showcase for our city and our province,” said Saint John Mayor Don Darling. “Our uptown was a fantastic backdrop to an amazing weekend in 2019. When the AREA 506 team came back to us to discuss the possibility of returning to the Fundy Quay location, we were more than happy to find a solution that supports the event, supports our local businesses, and keeps it in the heart of the uptown in the middle of the popular New Brunswick Day celebrations.”
Work is well underway to secure next year’s lineup.
“We’re putting together another amazing line-up for our fifth year,” said Gracewood. “We’re excited to share more information about next year’s event.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an online business news publication based in Saint John. Huddle is an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
