Countryfest fans irked by end of day passes

Some longtime supporters of Dauphin’s Countryfest say they’re frustrated that day passes aren’t being sold this year as the festival encourages fans to enjoy a four-day experience.

Dauphin resident Phyllis Brunen looks forward to Canada’s longest-running country music festival every summer, but this year she’s choosing not to go.

“I’ve gone every year, and now that I’m older, and I have some health issues, like just one day is enough for me,” she said.

“I can’t afford a weekend pass. I live on pension. It’s low income. I can’t afford a $400 ticket.”

Countryfest organizers announced last week on social media that this year’s festival, which runs from June 25-28, will be a “weekend-pass-only event,” with no day passes sold to the public.

The board of directors made the decision to cut day passes rather than charge people nearly double to meet the calibre of entertainment this year, Countryfest president Duane McMaster said.

“I think last year our day passes were $120 a day,” he said.

“There’s no way that we could have sold for that price. It would have been well over $200 we would have had to sell our day passes for.”

The four-day passes cost about $420.

McMaster said the change came in response to surveying patrons over the last few years who said they wanted to see big-name artists take the stage.

Offering only weekend passes was a way to try to sustain the festival while catering to what people want, he said.

This year’s lineup includes Jelly Roll, Nate Smith, Tyler Hubbard, Cameron Whitcomb, Owen Riegling, Brett Kissel and Blackhawk.

“We’ve been warning people all along, telling them we weren’t anticipating selling day passes, and then they’re still surprised when we tell them we’re not selling them,” McMaster said.

The board didn’t consult with members on the decision, he said.

Rather than treating each day as its own event, the festival’s goal has always been to encourage people to camp for the weekend without having to worry about travel and overnight accommodation, McMaster said.

The board is seriously considering making the changes permanent, he said.

Brunen said she loves country music, the festival atmosphere and getting the chance to see artists she likely wouldn’t see except on TV. But if day passes aren’t offered again, she probably won’t go.

Judy Archer from Winnipeg has been going to Dauphin’s Countryfest since it began in 1990 and loves listening to the variety of artists and spending time with family and friends who live in the area.

She bought a weekend pass and will be camping in her motorhome, but thinks the change is unfair to others in the community.

“There’s a lot of seniors, there’s a lot of people with disabilities that might just, you know, want to go for the day. A whole weekend is too much money, you know, for people these days,” she said.

Archer said she has heard from a lot of people who are angry about the change, adding that it’s a “real downer” for the community.

On the other hand, Winnipeg resident Kristen McKay said she supports the festival’s decision.

When people go for one day only, they miss out on the full experience, she said.

“The person that’s attending, they lose out on possible connections with new music, new singers, new artists,” McKay said.

“I just feel that they want us to be more involved in music and community and these festivals are important.”

McKay hasn’t been to Countryfest since she was a teen but plans to go next year to show her support for up-and-coming Manitoba artists, she said.

Dauphin’s Countryfest has already sold twice as many four-day weekend passes compared to previous years, McMaster said.

The festival is still trying to return to the ticket sales it was seeing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but McMaster anticipates the stands will be filled with between 8,000 and 10,000 patrons per day.

The festival saw around 9,000 people per day before the pandemic and has a capacity of 14,000 people.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com