Blake Shelton to headline Sunfest music festival on Vancouver Island
U.S. country music star Blake Shelton will headline next year's Sunfest Country Music Festival on Vancouver Island, organizers announced Wednesday.
The music festival will return to the Cowichan Valley from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6, 2023, and Shelton will close out the event with a performance on the last day of the festival.
The country music festival returned to the 250-acre Laketown Ranch property this summer following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Thousands of people converged on the Cowichan Valley property to see performers like Darius Rucker, Dallas Smith and Hardy and Kip Moore.
This year's headliner, Blake Shelton, has five Academy of Country Music awards under his belt, as well as 10 Country Music Association awards and 11 Country Music Television awards, among many others.
He's also a coach on the television show The Voice and helped guide eight contestants of the show to victory.
Tickets for next year's Sunfest music festival go on sale this Friday, Dec. 2.
More headliners and performers for the festival will be announced "soon" according to organizers.
The most recent Sunfest event included more than 50 performers, about half of which were local.
Laketown Ranch boasts the largest permanent outdoor stage in Western Canada, and the upcoming Sunfest is expected to have four stages, multiple bars, flush toilets, showers, a VIP area and food vendors.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | Liberals withdraw controversial amendment to guns bill
The federal Liberals are withdrawing a controversial amendment to their guns bill that would have added many popular hunting rifles and shotguns to a list of prohibited firearms in Canada.

NORAD tracking high-altitude surveillance balloon detected over the U.S., Canada says
The Department of National Defence says Canada is working with the United States to protect sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats after a high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected.
Most of Ontario under extreme cold warning, Arctic blast brings biting chills
Most of Ontario is under an extreme cold warning as a blast of Arctic air delivers biting wind chills.
Migrant workers sneak secret menus into Canadian restaurants to expose exploitation
Hundreds of customers who scan QR codes for restaurant menus across Canada are being surprised by secret menus instead, revealing the hidden costs behind the food they eat.
Senate passes Liberals' controversial online streaming act with a dozen amendments
Big tech companies that offer online streaming services could soon be required to contribute to Canadian content as a controversial Liberal bill gets one step closer to becoming law.
Escaping the Taliban: CTV News' Genevieve Beauchemin meets Afghan refugees left in limbo in Pakistan
Lives were 'shattered' when Kabul fell into Taliban hands, and thousands remain in limbo, unable to return to Afghanistan. CTV News' Genevieve Beauchemin recalls her visit to makeshift refugee camps set up in Pakistani parks, and the stories she heard during that time.
opinion | How much rent can you afford?
Many Canadians have continued to see an increase in their rental rates in 2023. In an column on CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains how to calculate how much rent you can afford.
China: Balloon over U.S. skies is for research, wind pushed it
China said Friday that a balloon spotted over American airspace was used for weather research and was blown off course, despite U.S. suspicion it was spying. The discovery further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington.
Calls to restrict tobogganing prompt criticism, debate in some cities
Questions around safe sledding in winter have Canadian municipalities facing tough decisions on whether to regulate tobogganing hills.