Whoop Up Stage began on Tuesday with a big country night and the Whoop Up  Days parade, Allee opened the Ex Stage at 7 p.m. followed by Aaron Goodvin at 8 p.m. And Corb Lund plays his first Whoop Up Days show at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $38 at the gate and $31 in advance. Medicine Hat duo Mahoney put their own stamp on classic covers in the Let ’Er buck saloon
Wednesday features something for everyone beginning with country music from with Calgary country/roots band the Mariel Buckley Band kicking things off at  7 p.m. They will be followed by the soulful pop stylings of Nuela Charles’ at 8 p.m.. Sam Roberts Band will rock the night away beginning at 9:30 p.m playing a plethora of their hits.
Country musician Ryan Lindsay plays the Let ’Er Buck Saloon. Tickets are $43 at the gate, $36 in advance.
 Thursday will be another eclectic night on the Ex stage as Mohawk/ African Canadian soul/ R and b/Rock and roll and blues band the Julian Taylor band begin the night at 7 p.m.
 Edmonton based indie rock band Scenic Route To Alaska are on the Ex stage at 8 p.m. And Whoop Up Days welcomes Burlington, Ontario based indie rock/pop/ folk band Walk Off The Earth at 9:30 p.m.

The Justin Hogg Band play the Let Er Buck Saloon. Tickets are $38 at the gate, $31 in advance.
 Friday night is the night to rock pop style with Hamilton alternative rock trio the Dirty Nil playing at 7 p.m followed by Vancouver pop duo Dear Rouge at 8 p.m. The Arkells rock the night away at 9:30 p.m.. Several country bands , the Abrams, Garrett Gregory and the Justin Hogg Band are in the Let ’er Buck Saloon. Tickets are $43 at the gate $36 in advance.

Whoop up Days ends Saturday, Aug. 24 with a whole lot of hip hop and rap with Harman B beginning at 7 p.m., the Notorious YEG following at 8 p.m. and Atlanta rapper  Lil Jon closing things off at 9:30 p.m.
 For a contrast to that rising country star the Chris Buck band play the Let Er Buck Saloon with Karac Hendriks. Tickets are $43 at the gate and $36 in advance.

 If that wasn’t enough Whoop Up Days, popular classic rock band the Chevelles play a Whoop up Days wind down party at Average Joes, Aug. 23 at 9 p.m. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 on the day of the show. The show begins at 9 p.m.

With bigger bands booked to play Whoop up Days, it means more stringent security procedures this year.
 Everybody will be subject to a bag search and a pat down and will go through a metal detector before entering the grounds at the South and north gates.

There is  a long list of prohibited items which  Exhibition Park staff are encouraging people to leave at home. Prohibited items include  air horns/artificial noisemakers; alcohol;  any item deemed a danger/threat to public order or safety 
; articles of clothing with offensive language/images ;  Banners/signs/voice amplification devices ; Bicycles/scooters ; Compressed and/or liquid gas/aerosol sprays (except personal care products, insect 
repellant) ; conducted energy weapons (i.e. Taser) ; corrosive chemicals/flammable substances; drones/radio controlled devices ; Illegal drugs/drug paraphernalia/ substances ;  explosives/flammable items/ignition devises ; firearms/slingshots/ammunition ; fireworks; flyers/samples/promotional items/giveaways ; glass containers /other containers in which their contents cannot be easily identified ;Hand tools/electric tools ; Knives/scissors/bladed items of all forms ; light emitting devices (lasers); mace/pepper spray/bear spray ;  masks ; materials of an extremist/offensive /discriminatory nature ; padlocks/chains/cables/zip ties/handcuffs ; paint/markers ; pets /other animals except animals with a service dog Identification card ; replica firearms/weapons including items that appear to be firearms skateboards/segway’s/wheelies/shoes with wheels/ hover boards ; sporting goods (baseball bats, hockey sticks, golf clubs, bows and arrows) ; Professional audio or video recording devices ; Unknown liquids/powders ; noise makers (i.e. bullhorns, sirens, air horns, etc) or confetti poppers; Hard sided coolers ;Selfie sticks/monopods/tripods, etc ;Glass bottles or unsealed outside beverages ; High back lawn chairs, large hats that obstruct views, or large umbrellas; Large banners or signs, banners or signs with objectionable language, or banners or 
signs on a pole of any kind  and  any objects deemed unacceptable by security or in their opinion may be used as a 
weapon of any kind . All such items will be confiscated by security and not returned.

 “ It brings us in line with other major festivals,” said Whoop up Days Exhibition Park Chief Operating Officer Mike Warkentin, noting he doesn’t anticipate any negative feedback from festival attendees.

“ It’s the same sort of security they have for events at the Enmax Centre,” he said.

Whoop Up Days kicks off with a big country night featuring Lethbridge’s own Corb Lund and his band the Hurtin’ Albertans, Aug. 20.
 He will be  headlining a night featuring Aaron Goodvin and rising country star Alee.

 Lund is excited to play Whoop up Days for the first time with band mates bassist Kurt Ciesla, drummer Brady Valgardson and lead guitarist Grant Siemens
“ We’ve been trying to play Whoop Up Days for years, but the schedule just hasn’t worked out,” said Lund who still lives in Lethbridge.
“ I live here, but I don’t spend a lot of time here and I don’t  play here very often. I’m from Taber and our family ranch is in Cardston and Kurt and Brady live around here,” said Lund, who has been spending most of his time touring the United States.

 He has a long standing connection to Whoop Up Days.
“My uncle Tom Ivins used to be the president of the Whoop Up Days, Exhibition,” he said.

“My mom won the barrel racing competition there in the ’50s and ’60s. My dad competed in steer wrestling at Lethbridge, and I probably rode steers there when I was a kid,” he said, adding he has a lot of Whoop  Up Days memories.
“I remember one year a bull in the bull riding competition escaped and got onto the midway. That was when they only had page wire fences and the bull got out through a hole in the fence and ran onto the midway. People were running for cover,” Lund recalled, adding that was probably in the late ’70s or early ’80s.

Lund is getting ready to release an EP of popular covers which inspired him to play including Dr. Hook and the Medicine show’s “Cover of the Rolling Stone,” with his long time friend and collaborator Hayes Carll, a cover of AC DC’s “ Ride On,” featuring Ian Tyson.
“It’s a ballad that I always considered to be a country song. Ian sings the chorus,” he said.

“We’re performing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. (on Sept. 19). And that can be more powerful than playing with a bunch of electric guitars,” he said, adding he and Tyson go back a long way.
“ He sang on a song of mine called the Rodeo’s Over (From his 2005 album “Hair in My Eyes Like A Highland Steer.’”