B.C. Premier John Horgan to host free livestream concert featuring local musicians on Thursday

Note: This article has been updated to reflect a time change. The livestream concert will now be hosted at 4 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. as originally reported.

This Thursday, the provincial government is hosting an event like never before — and it can all be viewed from the comfort of your couch as you self isolate!

At 4 p.m. on April 16th, Premier John Horgan will be hosting a free livestream concert featuring four well-known B.C. musicians. The entire show can be viewed on the Government of British Columbia Facebook page.

“Music has the power to lift us up and give us hope in times of crisis,” said Lisa Beare, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

“B.C.’s music industry responded swiftly by embracing opportunities to livestream and bring people together online.”

The lineup for this concert includes:

• Alex Cuba (from Smithers), Juno and Latin Grammy-award winning pop-soul singer/songwriter,
• Kym Gouchie (from Prince George), self taught Indigenous traditional, folk and country singer and musician,
• Desiree Dawson (from White Rock), winner of CBC Music Searchlight talent contest in 2016, and soulful folk singer, and
• Dan Mangan (from Vancouver), Juno award winning indie-rock musician.

This concert acts as a way to both bring live, local music to people’s homes during this period of physical isolation, and support the province’s music industry.

The initiative, called Showcase BC, provides one-time micro-grants of $500 to emerging artists and $2,000 to established artists for livestreaming, songwriting, and professional development.

All of the virtual live events approved by Showcase BC will be made available for free on their website.