Tunes On The Dunes – The Story

On June 28th of 2003, Vickie was facing – or not facing – a momentous occasion. And since it hadn’t yet arrived we chose to celebrate her 49.999th year. So in addition to some family and friends we decided to invite some customers, who were mostly from the Moncton area, because of its proximity to Bouctouche.

This sort of acted as a trial run for Tunes. We hired a band , some great bartenders, and had buffalo for dinner. We learned a lot of important lessons from this. They were primarily housekeeping items and things we could do to improve the conditions if we had a bigger crowd. But the most important thing we learned was that customers from competitive organizations could be brought together and everyone could have a great time, without incident.

So we moved forward with the support of our principals and put on the first Tunes On The Dunes. The year before we had a major problem with the flies because we were cutting brush and extending the property back. So we promised people if they came back, it would be a “no fly” zone.

Well, we definitely kept that promise. There was only one fly there – but he couldn’t bother anyone because he had a winter coat on and quickly froze to death! Who would have thought July 10th could have been so cold. And the rain … well that was another story.

Everyone seemed to be a little soggy and frozen half to death - but it was a good attitude that made everything turn out just fine. People seemed to ignore the weather and just had fun. And as a result - so did we. Even when the power went out - thanks to you - everything was perfect. How often did we hear the comment "Hey..it rained at Woodstock!"

And we learned even more…we started to listen to you a little closer. At Tunes On The Dunes II we added some mechanical and plumbing contractors so it would be more beneficial to our direct customers. So that you could socialize with your customer base. We also learned what you liked in music and we definitely listened to that .

Tunes On The Dunes Three had the worlds’ greatest ventriloquist just to add something a little different, and lots of good music as well. And we added a pool room to enhance your pleasure..
Tunes On The Dunes IV - The Event featured  eight bands that were all headliners in their own genre, and we went to a much different tent, and the crowds just keep growing.

When I quizzed some of the people that wouldn't attend the first year as to why - the response was "Oh that'll just be a big drunk!". Well anyone that's attended knows that we provide a lot more than just free beer. We know that the wives and companions have really enjoyed it and that people look forward to it as their premier summer event.

Each year we have gotten a little better at providing things to enhance yoru weekend. This year will be no exception. However this could be our last Tunes , hence the name Tunes On The Dunes Five The Finale.

Oh there will always be a Tunes On The Dunes, but perhaps not the same format. So if you want to see Tunes the way you heard people talk about it, stop making excuses, and make this your year to be in Bouctouche under the big tent with the fun people and all that great music.

And to your co-workers that keep saying they may go next year, and keep making excuses as to why they can't go, well that's alright. Each year the number of attendees goes up, word of mouth gets out, and we see more and more new faces each year - not to mention the repeat appearance of people that attended the previous year is over 99%.

So we know now that some people don't attend because they just can't stand having too much fun. After all there are really only two kinds of people: Tunes On The Dunes people, and the rest of them.


Stay Tuned To The Dunes

John Levandier