Let the announcements begin.

The Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds will become 鈥榤usic central鈥� July 8-10, as thousands of festival-goers will descend upon the Courtenay area for the 2022 Vancouver Island MusicFest.

Executive producer and artistic director Doug Cox promises an eclectic collage of local and imported talent, as evident with his first lineup announcement.

Returning to MusicFest are Canadian folk legend Ferron, and New Orleans jazz/blues/gospel vocalist John Boutt茅.

Edmonton country-punk staples Jr. Gone Wild will make their MusicFest debut, as will Nigerian Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti and his band, The Positive Force.

Capping off the first round of announcements is a special performance by the British group The Blues Band.

Not only will MusicFest be The Blues Band鈥檚 only Canadian appearance, but it will also be the band鈥檚 farewell show.

Cox was thrilled to have landed this act.

鈥淚f you read the individual bios on these guys, they are the who鈥檚 who of the history of the blues in England,鈥� said Cox. 鈥淭om McGuinness, who is in the band, was in Eric Clapton鈥檚 first band, called The Roosters. Dave Kelly introduced England to people like Howlin鈥� Wolf and John Lee Hooker. Dave has come to our festival three times鈥� and loves our festival. I鈥檝e been trying to get him to bring The Blues Band. He was planning on coming this year, and told me that The Blues Band was doing their last-ever farewell tour in England. So he got in touch and said, 鈥楬ey, what do you think of this? What if The Blues Band comes to your festival and does their last ever concert right there, at MusicFest.鈥� So I just love when stuff like that happens at our festival.鈥�

Canadian folk icon

Ferron returns to MusicFest for the first time in 24 years, but she has played Courtenay much more recently than that.

鈥淲e did a show with her at the Native Sons Hall just before the pandemic,鈥� said Cox. 鈥淪he is absolutely one of the icons of the folk world, and also the iconic lesbian folk singer - probably the biggest champion of gay rights there is in the folk community. And she is also a phenomenal singer/songwriter.鈥�

Ferron will be bringing well-known Vancouverites Darryl Havers and Chris Nordquist.

鈥淔erron is one of the best and I am really thrilled that she is coming to play,鈥� said Cox.

Cox described Jr. Gone Wild as 鈥渢he ultimate prairie rock and roll band.鈥�

Edmonton content

Jr. Gone Wild was formed in 1982 and put together half a dozen albums in the next 13 years, before disbanding in 1995. The group reunited eight years ago and in 2021 released its latest album, Still Got The Jacket.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty exciting that they are coming because for me, there鈥檚 no other band that represents 鈥榩rairie rock鈥� as well as they do,鈥� said Cox. 鈥淎nd they are thrilled to be coming too. They are old road warriors.鈥�

Boutt茅 returns

This will be Boutt茅鈥檚 third appearance at MusicFest, and his first since 2007. For those unfamiliar with the name, he鈥檚 the voice of the theme song to the HBO show Treme.

鈥淛ohn is known as the voice of New Orleans, that鈥檚 what they call him - and I am thrilled he is coming back,鈥� said Cox. 鈥淗e is honestly one of my favourite singers in the whole world. It鈥檚 been a while since we鈥檝e had him, but he is coming with a phenomenal trio of musicians from New Orleans. So he will be doing some of his own stuff, as well as songs from The Great American Songbook.鈥�

African talent

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force will have people dancing to the beat.

鈥淔emi Kuti is the son of Fela Kuti, who a lot of people would consider to be the father of Afrobeat,鈥� said Cox. 鈥淔emi is Fela鈥檚 oldest son, and he sort of passed the Afrobeat torch to Femi in the early-1980s.

鈥淭his is a real Afrobeat band, in regards to its size, and the music that they are playing. I don鈥檛 think that we have ever had a real Afrobeat band in the festival before. We have had African music, but this may be the first actual Afrobeat band. So I am really excited about them. It just doesn鈥檛 get any better.鈥�

Cox said to stay tuned for many more announcements as the weekend approaches.

鈥淚 know that there is only one female artist announced today, but I am making a real point of having as many female artists as male artists. We are also going to have more B.C. artists than ever before, and there will be more Canadian artists than artists from any other country this year. People will see that as we start to spill out the lineup a little more.鈥�

Ticket for the 2022 Vancouver Island MusicFest can be purchased at