Just after 9:30 PM on Sunday, every phone at the Selo Ukrainia festival site went off with an emergency alert tone: Environment Canada had issued a tornado warning for the area.
Aside from that one bit of bad weather, Countryfest President Duane McMaster said the festival got pretty lucky this weekend, considering the crazy forecast they were given the week before.
"Every day we looked at the forecast and they were calling for bad weather, and every day we got to the next day and that bad forecast had moved, and whatever weather was forecast, knock on wood, fingers crossed, has gone around us, and even today everything is shaping up really nicely. When I looked at the forecast this morning, we weren't even supposed see the sun today, and right now it says 23 feels like 28 out here," said McMaster.
Even on Sunday evening, the bad weather avoided the festival and headed west. At the Selo Ukrainia site, there was some light rain, but the ongoing act was postponed only for a bit.
Weather aside, the weekend was a great success on the talent front. From the start of marketing the event this year, they've said they got all the big names, like Jelly Roll, Nate Smith, and Tyler Hubbard, because people want the big names. Plus, according to McMaster, the big names have had a great weekend themselves, and he definitely plans on having more big names in future years at Countryfest.
"They've all been incredibly well-received, they've been great to deal with, and actually surprisingly enough, I always feel like we're a sort of backwoods, out-of-the-way place, everybody has had such great comments on how well they're treated here and what the facilities are like, and how well everything is run, and I think that goes back to all of our volunteers and all of our staff and everybody involved here making these people feel welcome. We are planning on continuing to go with the big name lineup, if we want to be a first-class festival, we need to have first-class entertainment," said McMaster.
But, that's not to say Countryfest will shy away from the smaller artists. There've been a lot of big country names that got their start at Countryfest, like Doc Walker, and lots of local country music staples, like Kates Outlaw and Desiree Dorion. McMaster said Countryfest's local roots are here to stay.
"We always want to encourage and develop new music, because that's where it comes from, that's where this whole genre, the whole thing starts. These guys in high school and earlier, playing music and writing music, and they need an opportunity, and we're glad to be able to provide that opportunity. And, we are really, really honoured that so many people still consider it such an honour to be on that main stage at Countryfest for the first time," said McMaster.
One thing that made this year's Countryfest a bit different than previous years was the decision to not have day passes. McMaster wanted this year's festival to be sold as more of a "Festival Experience" than a series of shows. And, it seems that mentality paid off: this year's Countryfest sold an estimated 10,000 weekend passes, maybe even more. Plus, lots of camping passes and packages sold out very early.
"I've always said that I never wanted this event to be a concert with camping. I want it to be an experience where people come through the gates and there's something to do in the afternoon, there's something to do in the evening, there's entertainment, there's other activities," said McMaster.
Though no official sales numbers have been released yet, it's almost a certainty that this year was one of Countryfest's best in the past decade. From top-tier talent, to an unforgettable festival experience, you can expect people coming back in droves for next year's event.
