What is Earth Hour? 

The Barrie Earth Hour Music Festival is the non-profit group responsible for organizing the Earth Hour concert and other initiatives in Barrie, Simcoe County and beyond. The group was founded by Gayle Rushton and includes a board of people passionate about spreading awareness of global climate change initiatives. The event was born out of Gayle’s desire to spread awareness on the climate change issue.

The festival presented by title sponsor PowerStream, is pleased with the success of the 2010 event held Saturday March 27th 2010. This was Barrie’s second annual Earth Hour Music Festival showcasing some of the biggest and best names in music.


We are pleased that, despite the cold, we were able to exceed the 2009 attendance of approximately 5,000. The volunteer board of the not-for-profit took to the stage over the hour and we thanked the more than 6,000 people who came down to the festival to celebrate Earth Hour in downtown Barrie. Although the crowd was slow to build at the start of the festival, it is estimated that over 6,000 were in attendance to mark the hour. “We are so pleased with the attendance this year. We couldn’t have done it without our media sponsors who created the awareness. At one point you could not turn on a radio, pick up a newspaper or watch television on /A without seeing or hearing something about the festival”, said Gayle Rushton, Founder of the Barrie Earth Hour Music Festival. “Totally Incredible!”

The concert featured a line-up of a mix of contemporary rock, pop and country music headlined by renowned rockers Atlantis Blueprint debuting their song “Out of Time” written specifically for Earth Hour. Acoustic Pop artist Laurell, highlighted the event by making a special guest appearance and wooed the crowd with her incredible voice and acoustic versions of her latest hits climbing the charts.

The festival had a distinct Barrie flavour featuring the wealth of talent residing in the area. Local performers included Hunter, Fishhead and Transistor (These rockers really know how to get the crowd going and have built a huge following), Doc rockers Code Blue (these Doctors really know how to rock), ear-catching pop-rockers Final Thought (drawing their large and loyal fan base bringing screams from the crowd when they appeared), acoustic performances by Grant Sauve, Eyeswide and talented newcomer Stacey Jamieson wowed the crowd over the Earth Hour event.

Being a Free concert, 100% of the funding for the event comes from sponsorship donations. Without these donations this event would not have happened. We encourage everyone to visit our website sponsor page at earthhourbarrie.com and see the names of our sponsors for themselves and when you visit their businesses, please say thank you because this is just not Barries’ event, it’s an event to create awareness around the World!

Earth Hour is a global climate change initiative run by the World Wildlife Fund which called on individuals and businesses to turn off non-essential lighting for one hour on Saturday, March 27th, 2010 between 8:30pm and 9:30pm. The aim of the campaign is to express that individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better.

People unable to attend the concert are encouraged to hold their own Earth Hour events (candle lit dinners, street parties, etc.) and turn off their own non-essential lights at 8:30pm.

 It's a great way to have some fun and at the same time show people that being ‘environmentally conscious’ doesn’t mean sacrificing things you like to do. It’s about being aware of the little things you do on a daily basis that can help benefit your world!

The 2011 event is already being planed and will be held on March 26, 2011. Sponsorships for this event are being accepted already. Key sponsorship opportunities go early so please reserve your place by contacting info@earthhourbarrie.com

More information may also be found at www.earthhour.org where people can sign up and lend their support, and at World Wildlife Fund Canada’s website www.earthhourcanada.org