The Roots and Blues Festival kicks off this week with a Music Crawl prequel on Thursday night.

The crawl will feature a number of international and Canadian musicians, including Salmon Arm’s own Jesse Mast, who was awarded the 2014 North American Country Music Associations International Songwriter of the Year Award.

The weekend long festival features a range of artists on a number of outdoor stages throughout the weekend.

David Gonella with the Roots and Blues Festival says they usually expect up to 10,000 visitors a day but this year they might exceed those numbers.

“Every room in the valley is booked and I think a lot of people are coming from the south because of the dollar being cheaper and just picked up demand,” said Gonella.

The various stages will feature over 40 bands and musicians. A global village will also showcase food from around the world. There will also be a Family Fun Zone, misting stations, artisan market, and shaded beer gardens.

For more information on the event, visit rootsandblues.ca.

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