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The biggest country music festival in Saskatchewan kicks off this week in Craven.
Early-bird campers started setting up their sites on Wednesday morning for the Country Thunder music festival, with the first performances set to get underway on Thursday.
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Megan Benoit, one of the organizers for Country Thunder, said some people get pretty creative with their camping setups.
“It’s a lot of fun to see how people really turn it into their home for the weekend. Some of these RVs are incredible. They have a lot of fun,” she said during an appearance on the Greg Morgan Morning Show.
Listen to the full interview with Benoit:
“Some campsites have their own themes, and you can sometimes hear where the party is at just walking through the campsite.”
Benoit said that there is no more free parking for people who are sticking around for just the day.
“If you’re looking for free and you don’t want to pay for parking, we do have a safe ride shuttle, sponsored by SGI, so that’s a great option,” she said.
“If you have friends who have a campground, you can also just buy an extra vehicle pass and then park right on their campsite.”
The three big headliners for the weekend are Jason Aldean on Friday, Bailey Zimmerman on Saturday and Def Leppard on Sunday.
Benoit said there was some last-minute scrambling to fill a spot on Friday evening because Nate Smith had to back out.
“Nate Smith has been on vocal rest for the month of June, took some time off to rest, tried to come back for a show last weekend and just couldn’t do it. We got the news, and we’re devastated. I’m a huge Nate Smith fan,” she explained.
“This late in the game we did some scrambling (and) tried to find someone to come in, and then realized this is a really great opportunity to showcase some Saskatchewan talent, so we called up Braden King, who was performing on the beer gardens.”
She said Brayden King was thrilled to get the chance to play on the mainstage.
Benoit said she’s expecting an exciting performance from Saturday’s headliner, Bailey Zimmerman.
“The trajectory of that boy’s career has been something I haven’t seen before. It’s just skyrocketed. He had a lot of energy when he played here a couple of years ago, and to see him get even more energy, I don’t know how he does it,” she said.
“He comes out guns blazing, and he does not slow down the entire 90 minutes.”
With Def Leppard being the headliner on Sunday, Benoit anticipates it will be a big show.
“I was talking to our artist relations manager yesterday, and she was dealing with all the pyro, all the production pieces. As soon as I hear the word pyro, I know that it is full on,” she said. “You know a Def Leppard concert if you’ve seen them, or if you haven’t you’re in for a treat.”
Benoit said the songwriter showcase will be another highlight of the weekend.
“It’s such a cool opportunity to enjoy an intimate performance with the people who wrote the songs that you know and hear on the radio, and they tell the story and the inspiration behind it,” she explained.
