09/03/2026
Bayside Rocks brings neighbours together
Connor May, DiscoverAirdrie.com | Monday, Aug 31 2026, 5:00 PM
A Bayside backyard concert brought hundreds of Airdrie residents together over the weekend for an evening of live music and community.
Faras Aboulhosn and his husband, Andrew McKibbin, hosted the seventh annual Bayside Rocks event, with neighbours gathering on lawns and in lawn chairs around their property to listen to a live band.
Aboulhosn said the event is not ticketed or advertised outside of Bayside, although word has spread over the years and people from other communities have started attending.
“It’s a great feeling. It’s a way to give back to the community,” Aboulhosn said.
Attendance remains below 500 people, with the couple’s property restricted to the band and organizers. This year, Paradise Lanes performed.
This year, around $1,300 is being donated to the Airdrie Food Bank on behalf of the event, thanks to sponsors and local supporters.
Building a community tradition
Aboulhosn and McKibbin moved to Airdrie in 2017 and wanted to find a way to contribute to their new community.
Aboulhosn said they were impressed by the willingness of Bayside residents to help one another, whether through community social media pages or by offering assistance to neighbours.
“It’s such a wonderful community that we just wanted to contribute somehow and make it even a better community and get everybody together to know each other,” he said.
Bayside Rocks started in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, after now Mayor Heather Spearman and her husband noticed Aboulhosn and McKibbin’s backyard and thought it would be an ideal spot for a socially distanced concert.
The property backs onto the community’s canal network and a large green space, allowing residents to watch from nearby pathways, bridges and even the water.
Aboulhosn and McKibbin agreed to host the event, with the first concert drawing about 100 people. Attendance grew over the following years as more residents learned about the annual show.
The event is traditionally held around the September long weekend, but this year's concert was moved to the final weekend of August because of the timing of the start of the school year.
Keeping Bayside Rocks going
Organizing the annual concert involves finding a band, raising money and working with sponsors, and Aboulhosn said he had considered taking a break this year.
But McKibbin encouraged him to continue after hearing how much the community was anticipating the event.
“He gave me a bit of a guilt trip,” Aboulhosn said. “He’s like, ‘You know the community’s expecting it, right?’”
Although Aboulhosn said he is still tired from organizing this year's concert and would currently say no to hosting another one next year, he expects the tradition could continue.
“By the time you recharge after a year, we’ll probably end up doing it next year as well,” he said.
McKibbin agreed there is a good chance Bayside Rocks will return.
