Freedom Convoy's Pat King banned from festival he promoted

Freedom Convoy organizer Pat King has been banned from a music festival in central Alberta which he had been promoting for weeks, alongside other fundraisers for his legal defence in Ottawa.

King has been urging his 336,000 online followers to buy tickets for the «Rock the Track» music festival, which features Nazareth, the Headstones, Bif Naked, the Northern Pikes and other rock acts.

«Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to show you, don't forget August 8th, 9th and 10th. We are putting on Rock the Track 2024,» King announced in June during a livestream event.

«Give it a shot guys, really want to see everybody out there. It is going to a great cause.»

But organizers of the three-day event in Rimbey, Alta., which kicks off today, say King will not be permitted onsite.

«It appears Pat knows somebody that is in our volunteer group and was planning to volunteer himself,» promoter Courtney Yuchtman wrote in an email to CBC News on behalf of Rock the Track.

«He was using this connection to promote the event and give the impression that he was more involved than just a volunteer. It seems he was using this to increase his popularity, potentially. I don't know for sure.»

King promoted event during trial

King is currently jailed in Ottawa for violating his bail conditions while awaiting judgment in a recent criminal trial that ended in July.

The Red Deer, Alta. man, who turned 47 last Friday, pleaded not guilty to mischief, intimidation and other charges related to what became known as the Freedom Convoy in early 2022, when thousands of individuals took their vehicles into downtown Ottawa and protested for nearly a month against government vaccine mandates.

King was unable to afford his legal defence after being abandoned by the broader