MountainFest and the Hall of Honour may be absent for the time being but that won’t keep Canada’s biggest country music stars from returning to Merritt.

Nashville recording artists The Higgins and B.C. recording artist AJ Woodworth will headline the grand opening of the Spirit Square celebration scheduled for November 28 downtown Merritt.

Woodworth and Higgins will perform on stage at Spirit Square in addition to the grand finale Christmas carol that will feature several other artists and groups.

"I feel so honoured to be asked to come and not only attend the opening but be one of the first artists to stand on the new stage," said Woodworth.

" Merritt has a big spot in my heart because it really gave me my first big opportunity to perform for a large crowd a few years back and actually gave me the opporunity, a year later, to open the mainstage with the Women of Country at Mountainfest."

The celebration kicks off at 1:30 p.m. with the Merritt Walk of Stars dancers.

The Merritt Secondary School jazz and vocal bands have been invited to represent Merritt’s youth as well as seven-year-old Spencer Vaughan, who will bring his acoustic guitar to perform some riffs.

Local duo Harley Carmen and Al Horne will perform before The Higgins’ 30-minute set.

“I think we’ll see a nice mix of country and Christmas entertainment,” said Merritt Walk of Stars promotions and events director Robyn Grebliunas.

“The lineup is very reflective of what we do here in Merritt,” continued Grebliunas.

“We set the stage for up and rising stars.”

The grand opening of the Square begins at 12:30 p.m. with local artist Tammy Weymouth singing the national anthem.

The festivities will continue with an Olympic warmup road hockey game, put on by Merritt Minor Hockey Association. Olympic mascots will perform a ceremonial puck drop to kick off the game.

The official ribbon cutting ceremony starts at 1 p.m. with the Merritt ambassadors, followed by an addresses from Mayor Susan Roline, Walk of Stars chair Ron Sanders, muralist Michelle Loughery, and former city councillor Norm Brigden.