101st Grey Cup Festival has begun here in Regina!

With just under a couple months until the 101st Grey Cup game, organizers here in Regina are getting ready to roll out the green carpet for Grey Cup Festival – a week of events and concerts leading up to the big game.

RezXSouth caught up with Neil Donnelly, Executive Director of Grey Cup Festival to find out what they have planned.

“We’re quite happy with the progess where we’re at, right now our tickets sales for the game are sold out… we have a great volunteer committee assigned to organize all the various events and we have just under 3000 volunteers registered to help us…I think we’re in really good shape to welcome the nation to Regina” says Donnelly.

During Grey Cup Festival, November 20-24th, Riderville could eventually become partyville with many concerts and events planned. Such concerts will include Hedley on Thursday and Big ‘n’ Rich on Saturday, both at the Brandt Centre, while Saskatoon‘s The Sheep Dogs will perform at the Grey Cup pre-game party at the Event Plex on Sunday.

”Our main festival location is at Evraz Place in the event plex and co-operators centre, where each team will be hosting a team party room, such as Riderville, Lion’s Den, Stamps House, Touchdown Manitoba, the Double Blue Bash, and Tiger Town,” says Donnelly.

Another big event is the Mosaic Underground Tent which will takes place downtown and is geared towards an adult crowd, hosting up to 1200 people in the tent every night.

But for families their is also the Nissan Family Zone which will feature winter activities, inflatable fun, special appearances, carnival games and live entertainment. Another family event is the Telus Street Festival, that will give fans opportunities for autograph, interactive fun, plenty of games.

With that much celebrations taking place, organizers have also taken extra precautions for safety and will be providing a Transportation Program, which will have City buses running throughout all the major locations to make sure everyone has a safe ride.

But the question on everyone’s mind is will the Saskatchewan Roughriders make it to the Grey Cup? Donnelly, who is not a football fan, but a proud supporter, thinks they have a chance.

“I think they have a really good shot, the team is looking as good as they ever have, as long as they stay away from injuries and keep playing smart, they’ll have a really great shot of being there”.

The Saskatchewan Rough Riders road to the Grey Cup begins this Sunday at Mosaic Stadium, when they will host the B.C. Lions, having beat them twice this season in their 3 match ups. Check out the game preview here. 

If the Riders can win that game and advance to the West Final, they would play the Calgary Stampeders who will be without 3 starters due to injury, which could improve the Riders chances since they lost to the Stampers twice this season out of their 3 match ups. Check out story here. 

For more info check out; www.101greycupfestival.ca

– Chris Tyrone Ross