Canadian rap-rock sensation Down With Webster, rock 'n' roll pioneer Ronnie Hawkins, Paralyzer hitmakers Finger Eleven, and American country star Pam Tillis will be among the acts performing at the 39th annual Festival of Friends.

TD Festival of Friends director Loren Lieberman told The Spectator Tuesday that the three-day free music festival will return to its home at the Ancaster Fairgrounds on Aug. 8, 9 and 10 with a carnival, food fare, festival museum, haunted house, crafts' vendors and four stages of live entertainment.

Lieberman predicted Down With Webster would be a strong draw for young music fans on the Friday night of the festival.

"Down With Webster is a Canadian supergroup with the kids, but it's not just a kid's act by any means," Lieberman said. "There are an awful lot of parents who we anticipate will be there along side of their kids."

Lieberman, who will announce more acts as they are confirmed in the coming weeks, said the festival's Sunday lineup will feature several top country acts, including Tillis, a respected Grammy-winning singer based in Nashville, and multiple Canadian Country Music Award winners Doc Walker.

"It's a country music festival on the main stage on Sunday," said Lieberman, adding that he hopes acts like Doc Walker and Tillis draw country fans from the areas outside of Hamilton like Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk.

"Country is the new rock," he said. "Today's Bryan Adams either wears a cowboy hat or a trucker hat."

At 79, Hawkins is the undisputed godfather of Canadian rock 'n' roll and a surprising closing act for the "Y108 rock picnic" segment of the festival on Saturday night.

"Yes, he's an older gentleman," said Lieberman. "But he is in great shape. He got himself a personal trainer and put himself in the best shape he's been in for years. That was all done for his Order of Canada presentation (in May)."

Finger Eleven, the Burlington band best know for its international hits One Thing and Paralyzer, will perform before Hawkins and his Hawks. In 2009, the last time Finger Eleven played the festival, the band drew an estimated crowd of almost 50,000, one of the larger crowds in festival history.

Lieberman estimated total attendance at last year's festival at about 200,000.

The TD Festival of Friends, which moved to Ancaster from Gage Park in 2011, usually receives an annual grant from the city of Hamilton for about $85,000. This year's grant has been held up, however, when city council requested that the festival prepare an audited financial statement with its funding request.

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Lieberman said the festival accountants were currently working on the report and expected it to be completed soon.

"We don't anticipate any problems with that whatsoever," he said.