Campsite flair adds extra life to Country Thunder

Some unique campsites have made their way to Craven, making the Country Thunder music festival even more interesting.

A few sites have props like a Las Vegas sign, Christmas gingerbread men, and a tiki bar to spice up the area.

Mike Dacey, whose campsite features a large “Las Craven” sign, said it has been an attraction at his campsite for a while.

“We made this sign for a Vegas-themed birthday party,” said Dacey, who has been coming to Craven since 1983.

“After the party was done, it was getting closer to Craven and we thought, ‘What do we do with this sign?’ We decided to paint the sign and call it Las Craven … We use it as our little landmark around here,” said Dacey.

Some others are bringing the Christmas spirit to Craven.

Michelle Johnston and her friends have a group of four gingerbread men posing in front of their trailer.

Johnston said her friends found one gingerbread man, then started to buy more for the campsite.

“They’ve just become something we bring out every year,” said Johnston. She added the gingerbread men get a lot of attention from others.

“People come by and ask to see the gingerbread men, we know there’s even a photo of them in the artists’ tent,” said Johnston.

She said there are a lot of repeat visitors at their campsite, with people using the props for their yearly photo albums.

Dacey said he sees a lot of attention around his sign as well, which has stood out at Craven since 2014.

“People are stopping by constantly for photos,” said Dacey.

“Sometimes if you’re browsing Instagram or other social media sites you’ll see random people you’ve never met and our sign is their backdrop to their Craven photos,” added Dacey. “Which is pretty cool.”

Dacey said he and his friends have now started to get visitors to sign their ‘dance floor’ after they stop for a photo. The wooden floor is now dotted with signatures in marker.

It may be tucked away in a corner, but Brenda Bezborotko’s campsite still catches the eye.

She has a tiki bar set up, which was built by one of her friends and is meant to add a little bit of shade.

Bezborotko said the tiki bar has become a social gathering for other campers in the area.

“The neighbours, they come and we gather and we chit chat and tell stories,” said Bezborotko, who has been renting the same site for the tiki bar for five years. “It’s cool.”

Like the Las Craven sign, the tiki bar has seen a lot of visitors which Bezborotko then gets to sign her tent.

“Sometimes during the day, you’re not busy doing anything and we just start reading the names,” said Bezborotko, who even has a few Roughrider names on the wall.

RCMP at Craven

Halfway through the festival, 24 people have been arrested by RCMP — it has been a week Mounties have described as relatively tame so far.

On Friday one person was arrested for impaired driving, and three people were arrested for possessing alcohol when they’re too young to drink.