It was a return that was two years in the making but a very successful return, nonetheless.
Dauphin's Countryfest returned this past weekend with an all-Canadian lineup beginning on Thursday with 730CKDM's Exclusive Kick-off Party while Gord Bamford was up top leading into the wee hours of Monday morning.
Aaron Goodvin was a late addition to the festival and he performed Friday night after the Washboard Union had to drop out.
"The festival was fantastic, it definitely exceeded our expectations as board of directors," said Ann Ransom. "The people that came out did so in full support and everyone was smiling and having such a great time. It was a tremendous return."
Crowd sizes at the festival were down; however, Ransom says that was expected and didn't take away from anything. Now in the past, the festival has hinted at who will perform the following year. This year; however, that isn't the case. Ransom says they are in the process of finding performers for next year's festival which takes place from June 30 to July 2.
"We do as board of directors have some work to see what direction we want to take the festival, smaller in size or gamble a bit and bring a big act in and see how it goes," said Ransom.
Ransom says lineup announcements will begin over the next couple of months leading up to the fall. When it comes to tickets, they will also go on sale in the fall after some performers have been announced so fans have a better idea of who will be at the hill. You can find more about ticket information and everything about Countryfest at Dauphin's Countryfest.