Sarah Mills: Summer is a chance to be a kid again
Sarah Mills says summer camps mean kids disconnect for a while, learn to make friends without sending a text and gain a ...
The music wasn’t the only thing bringing the heat at Country Thunder Saskatchewan this weekend.
With temperatures climbing into the mid-30s C range, festival-goers spent as much time searching for shade and water as they did planning which artists to see next.
Read more:
- VIDEO: Tornadoes, severe storms cause damage across northern Sask.
- Waldheim tornado leaves uprooted trees, damaged homes and businesses
- Photos: Saskatchewan storms drop damaging tornadoes
Whether it was escaping into an air-conditioned camper, taking a dip in Last Mountain Lake or spraying strangers with a water gun, campers found their own ways to stay cool while making the most of the annual country music festival.
For Kyle Irvine of Regina Beach — better known around the grounds as “Craven Jesus” — helping others beat the heat became part of the weekend.
“I like taking the water guns and shooting the people, keeping the people fresh in life, keeping the water going, keeping people hydrated,” Irvine said with a laugh.
A Country Thunder regular for about 13 years, Irvine has become a recognizable face around the campground thanks to his long hair, beard and outgoing personality. He said surviving the heat comes down to staying hydrated and keeping a positive attitude.
“You just gotta either find shade or find love,” he said. “You gotta keep hydrated. Water, beer, whatever you want. Just drink something.”
Living nearby in Regina Beach also gave Irvine an advantage.
“I’m lucky enough to live very close to this place where we get to go back and jump in the lake, jump in the water,” he said. “The people are so nice with their pools and stuff.”
As Irvine spoke about his festival experience, another familiar face made her way over.
“Is that Craven Jesus?” asked Debbie Storey before stopping for a hug and a photo.
Storey has been coming to Country Thunder for nearly four decades, attending since the festival’s second year in the early 1980s. She said meeting people like Irvine is one of the reasons she continues making the trip year after year.
“It’s just the people, the atmosphere,” Storey said. “Everybody would say hello, ‘Happy Craven!’ Everybody smiles.”
Storey has experienced just about every kind of Saskatchewan weather the festival can throw at campers, from deep mud to scorching heat. Her advice for this year’s hot temperatures was straightforward.
“Water on these necks and sit in the shade,” she said. “You have to take enough water and just regulate yourself.”
Despite the high temperatures, Storey said she’d still choose sunshine over rain.
“Everybody will get out of here without having to wash their clothes and trucks,” she said. “Cleanup is a lot easier if it doesn’t rain.”
Dan Clark relaxes at his campsite during Country Thunder Saskatchewan. Clark said shade, air conditioning and staying hydrated helped him beat the heat during one of the festival’s hottest weekends. (Jacob Bamhour/980 CJME)
Dan Clark also relied on a comfortable campsite to escape the heat between concerts.
“We’ve been just staying in the shade, keeping hydrated, air conditioning, fans blowing,” Clark said. “That’s about it.”
Clark said having an RV and air conditioning made the weekend much more comfortable, especially compared to the packed grandstands.
“There was no shade down there or nothing, so it gets pretty warm,” he said.
Although the heat added another challenge to the festival, campers agreed it was still preferable to the muddy conditions that have defined some past Country Thunder weekends.
For Irvine, looking after others was just as important as looking after himself.
“I just want to be a good, beautiful human,” he said. “The world needs more beautiful humans.”
Read more:
