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SASKATOON — Saskatoon is the hippest destination in the West this week as 3,000 guests arrive for a three-day party to celebrate the best of Canadian music.

There’s a carnival atmosphere on the streets as the Prairie city gets gussied up for the biggest party in its 101-year history. Hotels are booked solid, and bars have been given special permission in this former temperance colony to serve liquor until 3 a.m.

Instead of rolling up the sidewalks, the city is rolling out the red carpet as Juno Awards host Nelly Furtado as well as the likes of Blue Rodeo, k-os, Jim Cuddy, Billy Talent, Nickelback and Hedley, to name a few, descend on Saskatoon. The festivities started yesterday with a two-day club crawl featuring some of the Juno nominees and continue today with a gala dinner, before culminating tomorrow night with the sixth televised Juno event.

Who would have thought the once-tired Junos would morph into the hottest rotating event since the Grey Cup?

Credit executive producer John Brunton for much of the success. “We used to have a hard time even booking talent. Now we have bands like Coldplay and the Black Eyed Peas asking us if they can play,” says Brunton.

“It’s like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle from scratch every time,” he adds. “We have crew flying in from all over the world to work on this.”

Brunton, whose Insight Productions also produces TV’s Canadian Idol and Falcon Beach, says it’s undeniable that rotating host cities has goosed the Junos’ popularity. The 2006 show, staged in Halifax and hosted by Pamela Anderson, boasted 1.7 million viewers (26 per cent more than the audience for the Grammy Awards). “Take that Brit Awards and Grammys!” says Brunton, laughing.

Brunton has some unusual things in store for Saskatoon music fans. “We’ve gone with a crop-circles theme,” he says. “The set, designed by Pete Faragher, looks like what you might see from 30,000 feet. Even some of the fans will be encased in crop circles.”

Brunton decided to once again play against regional stereotypes. The concert in St. John’s was inspired by water, but didn’t have any “dorries or people in slickers,” he notes, referring to the 2002 Junos.

Brunton says he’s learned a thing or two from past Juno ceremonies. “The show is really about the fans. We use a general-admission audience in the front rows so that local people are included. If you want to rock the house, you need to tap into the local fan base. It means a lot to them and the show is just for them.”

Volunteer seat filler Shelly Wake heard about the gig from her son’s hockey coach. The mother of four is originally from Tisdale and fondly remembers rocking to April Wine. Husband Kim will be taping the event at home and watching for his wife as she joins in the fun. “This is a big deal for Saskatoon,” says Wake.

And where will the industry movers and shakers, whose seats they’ll be warming, be hanging out this weekend? Dan McNeil of Earl’s Restaurant says the local eatery will be closed for private shindigs. Tonight’s Red Carpet party, hosted by CTV, will have an Andy Warhol theme. Tomorrow night, Universal Music takes over, says McNeil, so “the winners can celebrate, and the losers can drown their sorrows.”

“The whole city is going to be buzzing,” he adds. “They’ve had to import extra limos to accommodate the VIPs. It’s like a grad night on steroids.”

The volunteers who’ve made the massive event possible had to compete for the 1,200 pay-free jobs on offer, says Martini. “We had 2,100 people apply.”

In addition to tomorrow’s awards night, visitors and locals will be rocking to Saskatoon Unplugged throughout the weekend, a daytime free-music series. At night, partiers will boogie at JunoFest, a series of $10 concerts unfolding at 15 venues around the city.

“We want people to come away with renewed appreciation for the local scene and for Canadian music,” says Martini. With the carnival atmosphere, a crop-circle set and pumped-up audiences, Saskatoon has no doubts it’ll show Canada just who loves to rock.

TheGlobeandMail