Country Thunder Saskatchewan is over for another year as most acts got to perform in front of thousands of country music fans during the weekend.
Three shows were either cut short or cancelled due to inclement weather over the weekend, including Sunday night’s beer gardens performance by the Hunter Brothers and the cancelled Saturday night headline act Tim McGraw.
After two nights of inclement weather, sitting water and mud are prevalent throughout the Craven grounds.
Country Thunder spokesperson Gerry Krochak said the positive that came from this show is that people stayed safe.
“A lot of fans wanted Tim McGraw to go on, there was no way that was going to happen,” Krochak said. “I think in the end most people understood and were supportive, and helpful and did everything they could and that’s the thing I’m going to recall when I think about this festival.”
Krochak said he doesn’t see any immediate changes to safety protocol for next year.
“I think these things can only happen when you have the type of people and continuity that we have with our relationship with the RCMP, our EMS team who I consider to be outstanding,” Krochak said. “There were challenging nights, but people responded in a way that we knew they could and that’s gratifying to know.”
Krochak said no headline acts for next year will be announced at this time.
“We have three of our headliners booked, but in this business our CEO has to work with something called permission to release,” Krochak said. “What we like to do in a lot of markets is come out with a fall line-up and I don’t know how he (President and CEO Troy Vollhoffer) does it, but I think people are going to be excited about next year as well.”
While the numbers aren’t final, Krochak said an estimated 20,000 people took part in Country Thunder festivities over the weekend.
