Music Capital of Canada. Merritt's prime location has provided the opportunity to host many events, the West Coast Rally Association's Pacific Forest Rally, an off-road rally conducted as part of the Canadian Rally Championship series every October, also the annual winter Thunderbird Rally often begins and ends in Merritt. The Bass Coast Festival held annually on the BC Day weekend and supports electronic music and creative arts draws attendees from all over North America. The annual Labour Day Rodeo and Fall Fair are long standing traditions in this ranching valley, drawing participants from all over Canada and the US. As a filming location Merritt provided the backdrop for the Academy Award-nominated movie The Sweet Hereafter. The debut episode of Smallville was partly filmed on location in Merritt. Jack Nicholson's The Pledge and the 2006 remake of The Wicker Man were also filmed partly in the area. In 2013 Shana: The Wolf's Music directed by Nino Jacusso was released, it is a drama about a First Nations girl coming of age set in a First Nations location. Scheduled to be released theatrically on June 11, 2021 Jurassic World Dominion began filming on February 25, 2020 in Merritt and concluded in early March 2020, with the shoot including the city's downtown area. The Nicola Valley is also host to the shooting of numerous commercials. Merritt is a member of the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission, which is a full-time, full service film commission representing the Thompson Nicola Regional District. Music The Merritt Mountain Music Festival was an outdoor music festival in Merritt. In 2005 the festival hosted a record-breaking attendance of approximately 148,000 people throughout the six-day event. Over the years it has hosted country stars such as Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, and Wynonna Judd. Since cancelling the festival in the summer of 2012, The Merritt Mountain Music Festival is no longer in operation. Starting on the BC Day weekend in 2013 (Friday, August 2 to Monday, August 5, 2013), Bass Coast Music Festival will be making Merritt, BC its new home (after taking place in Squamish, BC its first four years). Bass Coast features a wide variety of music "from daytime soul and reggae jams, to live experimental electronic music, house and techno". 2015 was the first year for the Rockin' River Music Fest, formerly held in Mission B.C., taking place July 30 to August 2. The return of a country music festival