Music at the racetrack: Promoter Ken Craig paves way for new Calabogie festival

A trail-blazing Ottawa concert promoter has teamed up with the owners of Calabogie Motorsports Park to throw an all-Canadian country and rock spectacle over three nights in June, complete with on-site camping. 

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Guitars and Gasoline will be the first live-music festival held on the grounds of the 20-year-old racetrack east of the village of Calabogie, about an hour’s drive from Ottawa. The track is billed as the longest in Canada, with 5.05 kilometres of smooth pavement and enticing curves. 

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Among the Canadian acts slated to appear the weekend of June 6-8 are roots-rockers Blue Rodeo, country star Josh Ross, hard-rockers The Headstones and Theory of a Deadman, The Trews, and more. 

The event is organized by Ken Craig, the Ottawa promoter who has had a hand in presenting most of the major concerts in the city in the past four decades, along with some of the biggest live-music events in Canada. He’s known in the industry as a “stadium guy” who can not only determine if a site will work as a huge venue, but also make it happen.  

Despite his recent retirement from Live Nation Canada, Craig has kept busy with select artists, including a successful North American comedy tour featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan and a handful of dates with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. 

He was also awarded the Order of Ottawa in 2024 in recognition of the “major economic impact” his concert-staging initiatives have brought to the city. The selection committee gave credit to Craig for producing the Rolling Stones’ 2005 appearance at Lansdowne Park, calling it Ottawa’s biggest concert.

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Craig’s latest project for his hometown area originated when Marc Steenbakkers, part of the track’s ownership group, invited him to visit the facility to judge its potential as a festival and concert site. That visit happened last summer and Craig was impressed at the spacious, treed location. 

“Of all the sites I’ve done, I’ll tell you I would easily put this in the top three,” Craig said, comparing it to massive outdoor venues such as the Commons in Halifax and New Brunswick’s Magnetic Hill. “You’re just surrounded by trees. The acoustics are going to be great, and it’s got great potential. I think we could develop it to a 25- or 30-thousand capacity.”

That’s the long-term vision. For now, the plan is to start with a few thousand and offer on-site camping, partly in hopes of appealing to those music fans who would usually spend money going to the Kemptville Live Music Festival, which is taking a break this year. 

As for the new festival’s all-Canadian roster of talent, Craig says they’re committed to supporting the national scene, but are also considering the current economic climate. 

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“With the American dollar right now and the financial risk that it takes to run a first-year festival, we decided to go all-Canadian so that all acts are paid in Canadian dollars,” he said. 

Guitars and Gasoline helps kick off a landmark year for Calabogie Motorsports, which is also hosting its first NASCAR Canada Series races on July 26-27. 

Find the complete festival lineup, and details on tickets, parking and camping online at guitarsandgasoline.com. 

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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