The week at Craven Country Jamboree that started off blistering hot ended with some familiar weather and the threat of a severe storm.
The mercury rose fast Saturday morning for the third straight day over temperatures above 30 degrees under the hot sun.
“Thirty above at 9:30 in the morning is not meant for people,” said Callum Bradely.
Many filled up their kiddie pools while others put a tarp in the cab of their pickup and filled it with water to cool down. Then the storm rolled in during the afternoon
The show on the main stage had to been delayed by about half an hour Saturday night because of a thunderstorm. That created quite the lightning show for people to watch as they waited for the acts to get back on stage after a quick downpour, bringing out the mud for yet another year.
“Everybody jumping in the water when it rains and playing around in the mud. That’s pretty much the best one’s here,” said Evan Blacklock.
Like elephants and other wild animals, some festival goers took advantage of the situation and covered themselves in mud to cool down.
Sunday’s events were threatened by a tornado watch that stretched across southern Saskatchewan.
“We’ve got an emergency plan in place. We’re not releasing any information right now because we’re just watching the weather,” said Craven spokesperson Kim Blevins.
It’s a bit of a tough situation to be in with a valley packed with tents and trailers and 25,000 campers. Many like Monique Nesland were left wondering what they would do in the event of a tornado.
“There’s a lot of people here and we’re not all on main stage and someone should tell us what to do, especially if we’re going to evacuate. Where do we go? We have no idea,” she said.
Nesland said her group of friends were aware of the tornado watch, but stayed at their campsite while many were glued to their spot in front of the stage.
The gopher run line up started at 7 p.m. Saturday for people hoping to snatch up the best spot for Sunday’s headliner Jason Aldean.
Warren Wallace joined the line at 5 a.m. and said it’s worth the long wait.
“Then you’ve got the rest of the day to sit in a nice comfortable lawn chair and enjoy your acts up close,” he said.
Most music festivals have done away with this style of seating, opting for attendees to pay premiums for the best seats.
Organizers at Craven say the gopher run isn’t going anywhere.
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With files from Alec Salloum.