A party "150 years in the making" will be held in Petrolia this weekend with its first-ever three-day outdoor music festival.
The Hard Oil Music Festival will kick off on Thursday, August 15, with Canadian country artist Josh Ross and special guest Madeline Merlo.
Friday night's event will feature Tom Cochrane and April Wine.
The concert series will end Saturday night with The Sam Roberts Band and special guest Treble Charger.
Gates will open each night at 5 p.m. at Greenwood Park.
Lawn chairs will be allowed in designated areas, guests will be allowed to bring in one sealed water bottle, and attendees are encouraged to bring cash.
Lang's Bus Line will provide free shuttle service to the three concerts. Buses will run from 5 p.m. until 30 minutes after the show. The schedule has been posted to the Town of Petrolia's Facebook page.
Director of Marketing, Arts and Communication Laurissa Ellsworth said the goal is to have some concert tickets available to purchase at the gate, however, in recent days, more have started to sell online.
"We're looking forward to welcoming a lot of people to Petrolia this weekend," she said.
Most ticket holders are residents of Sarnia-Lambton but Ellsworth said some are travelling from different provinces and stateside.
"A lot of them, interestingly, are from as far as Ottawa, Sudbury, Kingston, Hamilton, we even have some coming from Kalamazoo, Michigan," she said. "Some are coming from down south, some from Calgary, and New Brunswick. We're assuming a lot of these distance travellers are expats or people who have family in Petrolia."
Ellsworth said the economic spinoff from the concert series will not be known until this fall.
Aside from the three highly-anticipated shows, this weekend will include several other activities to celebrate Petrolia's 150th anniversary.
Saturday's festivities will begin at 7:30 a.m. with the Petrolia Farmers' Market and a Hard Oil Car Show.
The Petrolia 150 Parade will begin at 2 p.m. in the downtown area, during which time parking will not be available on Petrolia Line from Kirby Street to Tank Street. A Royal Canadian Air Force snowbird flyover is also scheduled to take place during the parade.
"Following the parade, Petrolia Discovery is inviting families for a free tour and live music," Ellsworth said. "Sunday, we have Hard Oil Kids Day [from] 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There's soapbox racing, roller skating, a magician, and food trucks."
A detailed schedule of what's planned in Petrolia over the weekend can be found at petrolia150.com.