Were the rumors true? Would Snoop Dogg be gracing the residents of smalltown Smiths Falls Ontario with his larger than life presence on a warm Saturday evening in August? You bet your rolling papers he did and we were there to catch it all!

The grapevine started whispering that it may be true on Friday morning, and by Friday evening it seemed as though it would really happen. Snoop Dogg made a surprise appearance at Tweed’s annual Shindig, an all-day music festival on the grounds of the cannabis company that occupies the former Hershey factory in town. It wasn’t until twenty minutes before the international rap mogul appeared on stage Saturday night that it was confirmed that he was, as everyone gathered had hoped for, one of the special guests advertised by Tweed earlier in the week. It didn’t hurt their chances of snagging him for the annual community celebration that Snoop and Tweed have a business partnership to produce a cannabis line.

With his customary swagger and smoothe jazzy tempo, he took the appreciative crowd through his bigger hits including Gin and Juice, Who am I, and  Drop it likes it’s Hot. The crowd went wild when he broke into some old school homages to Easy-E and Tupac. He really set the place on fire, however, when he declared that he came to Canada to teach us our new national anthem that will take effect in October before launching in to Young and Wild and Free. Kudos to Tweed for putting on such a well-organized event and to Snoop and his entourage for making the trek north of the border to make some small town Canadians very happy indeed.

Snoop Dogg Performs during the Tweed Shindig in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Photo: Renée Doiron

Snoop Dogg Performs during the Tweed Shindig in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Photo: Renée Doiron

Snoop Dogg Performs during the Tweed Shindig in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Photo: Renée Doiron

Snoop Dogg Performs during the Tweed Shindig in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Photo: Renée Doiron

Snoop Dogg Performs during the Tweed Shindig in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Photo: Renée Doiron