Photo via Salmon Arm Folk Music Society

Organizers of the Roots and Blues festival in Salmon Arm have cancelled the rest of this weekend’s events because of wildfires.

The 31st edition of the three-day event was set to feature Five Alarm Funk on Saturday and Sarah McLachlan on Sunday night.

“We have been in direct communication with our local fire officials and RCMP and with their support we have decided to cancel the remainder of our festival weekend, ” the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society said in an Saturday morning update.

“At every planning stage the SAFMS follows a safety first approach to ensure our patrons, volunteers and community health and safety is a priority.”

There are no evacuation orders or alerts in place for the City of Salmon Arm, however areas to the west – including Chase and Sorrento – remain on alert and order respectively. Evacuation orders also cover much of the North Shuswap and the Adams Lake area as well as parts of Turtle Valley to the south.

Highway 1 is also closed between Chase and Sorrento with people being told to detour using Highway 97 and either Highway 97A or 97B.

Late Friday, the provincial government declared a provincewide state of emergency urging to avoid all non-essential travel to the central Interior and southeastern B.C.

The first night of the festival – featuring Blue Rodeo – did go ahead, though it wasn’t without its issues. Organizers say they lost power at the festival grounds around 7:30 p.m.

“Canceling…was a difficult decision to make and one we did not take lightly,” the statement added.

“We will be in touch with ticket holders with more information within the following weeks. While we are monitoring our phone lines and messages, individual inquiries will not be answered.”