A province-wide search has been underway for an opening act for Merritt Rockin’ River Fest headliner Sam Hunt, and a Kelowna singer has made the finale.

Nine talented individuals have been selected to compete in a final contest to win the spot at the festival on Sat., July 30. CMT Artist of the Year Sam Hunt will be rocking the festival, playing some of his biggest country hits. For two months, contestants have performed at eight entertainment venues across B.C., singing covers of their favourite songs or original work.

Photo Credit: Teigen Gayse/Facebook

Kelowna’s Teigen Gayse is one of the finalists now vying for the chance to open for Hunt, but first, she will have to compete against eight others in the final competition.

Photo Credit: Merritt Rockin' River Fest/ContributedSam Hunt will headline the festival.

Gayse will compete against the other regional winners including; Kylene Shannon from Maple Ridge, Camryn Scott from Mission, Derek Pitts from Vancouver, Niki Watson from Coldstream, Joel West from Burns Lake, Louis Bigras from Penticton, Tammylynn Filgate from 100 Mile House and Chelsea Charlton from Aldergrove.

The Road to Rockin’ River final talent contest will take place on Thurs., July 28 at 6:45 p.m. at the Budweiser stage at the festival site.