Salmon Festival organizers in Grand Falls-Windsor hope their 2015 lineup will pull concertgoers to central Newfoundland, while the City of St. John's hopes it can pull off a Rod Stewart concert in the middle of St. John's.

Stewart will perform on July 11 at Confederation Field — the very same weekend that the annual Exploits Valley Salmon Festival will be held in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Salmon Fest lineup coming soon

This year’s Salmon Festival headliner is expected to be announced on Monday.

Gerald Thompson says business owners in central Newfoundland are banking on a Salmon Festival show that has to be better than Rod Stewart. (CBC) The competing concert weekend has left music lovers with a dilemma: Which concert to attend?

"I'm sure there's all kinds of concern about it. I mean, Rod Stewart is a big name, and it's happening on the same weekend," said Gerald Thompson with the Exploits Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“You could put anybody up against Rod Stewart, but if you put Garth Brooks or somebody like that, it may just be the balance."

Some younger music lovers have a bit of a different taste as to who they would like to see perform at this year's Salmon Fest, including rapper Eminem and Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer.

Matt Molloy says if the rumours are true, Lynyrd Skynyrd and John Fogerty in Grand Falls-Windsor would, for him, trump seeing Rod Stewart in St. John's. (CBC) Central Newfoundland resident Matt Molloy said he's not yet sold on seeing "Rod the Mod" in St. John’s.

"If they do bring in who is rumoured, which is Lynyrd Skynyrd and John Fogerty, that alone for me would be enough to go to Salmon Festival and not go to St. Johns," he said.

"Even though the St. John's show will be great — I have no doubt it's going to be a great show; I've heard a lot of things about the Rod Stewart shows, especially in Vegas. If they get Skynyrd and Fogerty, I'm buying my [Salmon Festival] tickets."

Council working on concert issues

Stewart and Blue Rodeo will play an area in St. John's known as Confederation Hill.

The field is located directly in front of the province's House of Assembly, and borders a populated residential area that includes Gooseberry Lane, as well as Shea and Osbourne Streets.

"In the city, we're challenged with having a venue. This is certainly a very open area, easy access, lots of parking in and around the area and we anticipate that a lot of people will walk... in through the immediate area from adjacent parking," said St. John's Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth. Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth hopes the Rod Stewart show will come at a minimal impact to area residents who live near the concert site. (CBC)

"It's certainly worth a try and worth an effort to see if we can't pull this off this year, and see how well it goes for everybody involved."

Ellsworth said the the city will work with Confederation Hill Music Fest promoter Pete Quinton and residents to minimize issues like vehicle and foot traffic, garbage, and noise.

“Our special events committee has laid out some very stringent rules," he said.

"Our goal is to have as little impact as possible on the area residents."

Ellsworth said the city will shut down some streets to local traffic only, and will have security set up in the area.

Not trying to compete with Salmon Fest

Ellsworth said the Stewart concert is not deliberately trying to compete with the central Newfoundland festival. He said the private promoter had the date set prior to the Salmon Fest date being announced.

"It's an opportunity for everyone to get to something that they want," Ellsworth said, citing that he's received positive feedback from local residents.

"Now they get to take in a concert on the weekend, without having to drive to Grand Falls, sleep in a field. They can go back into their own home."

The City of St. John’s said it will not be putting any money towards the Rod Stewart show — unlike the annual contribution that the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor makes towards Salmon Fest.

Last year, Salmon Fest, with headliner Maroon 5, was a financial flop, running a deficit of $476,899.