Rain can’t dampen Countryfest spirits

DAUPHIN — The atmosphere was alive on Friday afternoon at Dauphin’s Countryfest despite dark clouds that hung over the festival and broke into showers during the opening show of the night.

The dress code of jeans, jean shorts, bikini tops, and cowboy hats gave way to rain jackets and neon plastic-bag-jackets in the amphitheatre just after 4:45 p.m. when rain poured on the opening show by Sean Taylor Band at PlayNow main stage.

Many festivalgoers continued to fill seats and cheer in between songs, and some unprepared folk flowed into nearby tents for cover, during the shower that lasted 20 minutes. The show goes on, normally, rain or shine, Dauphin Countryfest president Duane McMaster told the Sun during the opening set.

“There’s a roof on the stage, and anyone who’s experienced coming to Countryfest is used to bringing ponchos and slippers,” McMaster said. “Generally if it’s just rain, we keep going.”

The sky stayed full of dark clouds through the late afternoon, but the rain did not return as Jade Turner took the stage for the second show and more guests filled the amphitheatre.

Dauphin’s Countryfest is seeing an “encouraging” turnout this year following worries that the festival’s future was at stake.

Vice-president Bob Gilroy came out last year encouraging ticket sales and said the “long-term viability” of the festival was not secured by ticket sales from 2025. It was a slow climb to regain attendance levels that the festival was logging pre-pandemic, he said.

McMaster noted on Friday that sales were up this year. Roughly 2,000 campsites of the total capacity for 3,900 were sold as of Friday afternoon. Ticket sales were also up compared to last year, and the grounds are buzzing again, he said.

“Looking around the campground last night, and today, it’s the first time I’ve seen it look that good in a while,” he said. “It’s very encouraging to see the turnaround.”

On opening day, the lineup into Countryfest stretched down the driveway of the festival grounds and two miles down Highway 10, he said. A resident who was in the lineup said that it was longer than they’d seen.

The campground next to the main stage was packed on Friday when the Sun visited, with festivalgoers streaming to and fro around food trucks, the main stage entrance and nearby campers.

The bulk of festivalgoers spent the afternoon of humid, rain-threatening weather around the campground, a sprawling yard of tightly parked trailers where chairs and barbecues were arranged, and drinking games took place.

Braden Campbell, a Brandon journeyman carpenter who had set up camp for the weekend, applauded the upgrade in the music that organizers scheduled this year around.

“The headliners are definitely better,” he said, pausing between tossing a ping-pong ball into red plastic cups across the table in a drinking game with a friend. “They definitely improved since last year.”

Campbell said he has attended Countryfest off-and-on since 2017, when he was in high school. The main attractions are Jelly Roll, a headliner, and Cameron Whitcomb, a lesser-known performer, his friend said.

The festival is just a “great time,”and that’s the main reason to make the trip out for the weekend, Campbell said. He added that the campground is fuller than he has ever seen it.

Ken Neuls, a resident of Grenfell, Sask., who was cooking up asparagus on a barbecue beside his camper, said he is catching up with friends that he may only see once or twice a year.

“It doesn’t matter what, we’ll always have fun,” Neuls said, and pointed to a group of six people sitting in lawn chairs under overlapping awnings. The music is not really what it’s all about, but it doesn’t hurt that the festival has “awesome” headliners this year, he said.

It’s his third year coming to the event.

The organizers of Countryfest deliberately made an effort to secure bigger headliners to drive up attendance this year, McMaster said. The change followed calls from the festivalgoers, who said as much in surveys, social media comments and word of mouth, he added.

Countryfest is also surveying fans to better understand the crowd so that the festival continues to grow in the future, he said.

“This year we are being way more proactive about it, we do want to know what our festivalgoers want.”

Headlining the event this year are Jelly Roll, Tyler Hubbard and Nate Smith.

Just over 50 artists are set to play this year, across three stages, one designated for country, another for alternative music, and the last for headline performances.

Spirits were high as the campground filled up with tents and trailers of all sizes and styles.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com