VIDEO: Music fans will fill the parking lot at Prospera Place this weekend for RTL (formerly known as Rock The Lake)

Rock The Lake (RTL) starts Friday at Prospera and the 7th edition looks like the most impressive line-up yet.

It's a month earlier this year, and there are a few other changes too.

The three-day festival is now called RTL and the organizers are investing in more big names beyond those headliners.

Bands like Daughtry, Hoobastank and 54-40 join headliners Theory of a Deadman, Our Lady Peace and Tom Cochrane among the notables.

"The big thing we went into was saying, how do we make this bigger, better, and we don't want it to be the same Rock the Lake that people are used to," said Dustyn Pokash.

"Let's get bigger bands, let's make the VIP bigger, let's do the merch better, let's take every little piece of the festival and let's make it better."

The event reflects a change in the definition of classic rock.

"The 90s is classic rock now," said Pokash.

Expect younger performers and a younger crowd.

"Our demographic is also changing so as we kind of move along and evolve with the festival, you're going to see us moving along with everybody who comes along with it."

The stage is now at the south end of the parking lot, instead of the west, which gives more room for bigger crowds.

"You can spread out, we've got more room, so we're going to keep making this bigger and bigger each year," added Pokash.

Temperatures are expected to hit 35°C degrees each of the three days, so organizers are doing what they can to manage that.

"We're going to have misters, we've got water stations, we have the inside of the building," Pokash said, "there's going to be air conditioning."

The event starts at 4 pm Friday and runs through Sunday.

Anyone considering buying tickets may want to note the prices will go up if you wait until Friday, and Saturday is close to selling out.