Blues Cruise Rocks Orangeville with great music and classic cars
It’s no secret that music and cars are one of the great pairings in life. Like butter and bread, Bonnie and Clyde and the perfect wine with a plate full of pasta, music has the capability to transform a car from an inanimate object into a streamlining butterfly or a wild cat, ready to take on the open road full of adventure.
When it comes to classic cars, one of the most perfect musical pairings is Blues music; a match so powerful it takes you back in time to a place where many people miss and the rest of us wish we could have experienced. That’s where the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival comes into play.
On Friday, June 6, The Road Hazards joined the festival for their annual Blues Cruise – an evening of Blues music, classic cars, and an entire community coming together for the purpose of having fun.
“Where else can you walk down the main street of your town, seeing cars that maybe remind you of your youth or that you are in love with, while listening to cool music?” said Lorraine Parkinson of Road Hazards Car Club of Orangeville. “It’s like a puzzle; it just fits together.”
There are usually upwards of 300 cars lining Broadway for the evening. Throughout the night, bands perform up and down the street to help attendees do the time warp with the classic cars and their owners. The bands perform three at a time, at different points along the street.
“The road closure is a pretty great part of it,” said Bruce, Lorraine’s husband and also a member of Road Hazards. “We get to line the cars up on Broadway, and there will be nine bands performing this year. They mostly play Blues throughout the cruise. We had the Blues Brothers come out last year, and they did their dancing and brought out the police cruiser and it was a great time for everyone.”
The Blues Cruise is a fantastic event because it doesn’t limit the types of cars, the ages of the owners or anything to do with the cars. It’s open to anyone and everyone, and often sees people coming from all over the place, including the GTA, to participate and see the cars in the show.
“The worst thing that people in the car hobby can do is put in all these rules and treat it like a business,” said Lorraine. “It’s not. It’s for fun, it’s for helping each other out and that’s part of what living here is all about. Whether the people with the cars live here or come and visit here every week, they become intermixed with it.”
That’s a big part of why the Road Hazards aim to make their shows fun and welcoming to everyone. While they also have their weekly shows, as well as the car show at the Rotary Club’s annual Rib Fest, they explained that the Blues Cruise retains its own unique qualities that make the show an incredibly popular attraction each year.
“It’s a totally different atmosphere than Rib Fest, but once again, it’s the atmosphere that makes it what it is,” said Lorraine. “It’s all about music and cars. And it’s packed. You can hardly walk down the street because of the people and in the past, we have run out of parking spaces.”
The success of the event continues to speak for itself, as the streets overflow with people (weather permitting) and the venues are filled during the entire evening, and according to Bruce, the ice cream vendors have even run out of ice cream in the past.
“We just really love doing this stuff,” added Lorraine. “Where else can you have your hobby you love and tie it in with so many things in the town, like the Rotary club, the Blues and Jazz Festival and Rib Fest? You’re being a part of your town and your community through your hobby, and that is incredible.”
Written by Tabitha Wells
