Mumford & Sons fans from Southern Ontario were surprised this week with the exciting news that their favourite men are bringing their Gentlemen of the Road tour to Ontario this summer and, oddly enough, the tour is slated to take place at the Norfolk County Fairgrounds in Simcoe, Ontario on August 23 and 24.
Though a very strange place for a band of any popularity to play, the news is true: One of the biggest bands in the world will make history for the town of Simcoe.
With a two-day event, other bands like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Vaccines, Hey Rosetta!, Dan Mangan, and more will also take the stage before Mumford & Sons headline on the second night of the event.
Concertgoers are given the option to camp over on the campground adjacent to the fairgrounds to make the show even more of a memorable experience.
Fans were forewarned that there was going to be an extremely high demand for tickets to the show as it is the only Canadian date out of the five dates announced by the band. Other dates include three shows in the U.S and one in the U.K.
The town of Simcoe decided to step in and help its locals out by reserving a block of tickets for Simcoe locals as long as they could prove they were residents of Simcoe. Tickets for the show went on sale on February 8 and residents lined up as early as 3 a.m. in what has so far been the worst snow storm in years to get their priority tickets. Within a few hours, hundreds of Simcoe fans were lined up in the street in hopes of getting tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime show.
When tickets went on sale for everyone else online, many ticket buyers grew anxious when they were brought to a standby page where they had to wait and then were randomly selected to purchase tickets. There was a limit of four tickets per credit card to give more people a chance to get their hands on tickets. Not surprisingly, the show was sold out in minutes and those who were randomly selected to purchase tickets were extremely lucky.
The show is expected to boost tourism for the town of Simcoe, and many local food and business owners will profit big time from the event. The event promises to be something that will make this small town go down in music history and grant Simcoe a weekend that it will never, ever forget.
