Heather Wright/The Independent

Hundreds of volunteers are doing the heavy lifting as the Town of Petrolia prepares for the Hard Oil Music Festival weekend.
Since Monday, volunteers have been at the Greenwood Park, preparing the grounds for up to 3,000 concert-goers nightly. The first group of fans will arrive Thursday for the Josh Ross concert.
Monday, about 16 volunteers and town staff were on hand to put up over 4,000 feet of fencing to corral the concert goers in the baseball diamond area.
Tuesday, Laurissa Ellsworth, director of marketing, arts and communications, could be found on the field as crews erected the portable stage for the three-day event. The stage company brought the large platform, equipped with video screens, directly from the Boots and Hearts event over the weekend.
It was expected to take most of the Tuesday to get everything in place.
Wednesday, Ellsworth says, will be the big set up day.
Electricians will be on hand to connect the stage to the power grid. The grounds will be wired for the internet for the bands but also the eight food trucks which are now expected to be on the site for the concerts.
And, Ellsworth says, there will be a lot of porta-potties making the trip to Petrolia.
“There will be lots of washrooms; that was a key we took from other events; people will remember how many washrooms you have,” she says.
Ellsworth and Thera Wagner, marketing and events associate, say when Thursday rolls around, concert goers will start entering the grounds at 5 pm.
Everyone will need a ticket – some will be available at the gate. They’ll be screened and they won’t be able to take any food or drink into the grounds other than a sealed bottle of water.
And don’t expect any rain delays. “Aside from very bad weather, we’re going to just keep pushing through,” says Ellsworth.
People with accessiblity concerns will get prefered treatment. “Skyway has donated a accessible platform for wheelchairs and those who require extra assistance so that they’re a little elevated, could see over other people.”
After the three-day concert event, activity moves to the grounds around the Lion’s Hall for the Ecumenical church service and the Hard Oil Kids event Sunday while clean up of the concert area gets started.
Wagner is also expecting big crowds for what she hopes will be an epic parade.
While there is a lot of work to be done leading up to the event, Ellsworth is excited. “Our committee is just excited about doing the biggest thing Petrolia has ever seen. We said we’re going to get it together and were going to do whatever it takes.”