An aerial view of Dauphin’s Countryfest 2015 (TODD PEDERSON PHOTO)
Jake Owen performs at Dauphin’s Country Fest on Saturday, June 27, 2015. (TODD PEDERSON PHOTO)
The 26th annual Dauphin’s Countryfest is going down as one of the best weekends on record.
Organizers say the festival, which ran June 25-28, had a daily attendance of about 12,000 people. They’re also appreciative of the balmy temperatures.
“Sunshine really makes the festival a happier place,” said Eric Irwin, the festival’s president. “The freakish amount of rain we got last year was extreme to say the least, and it affected people’s spirits. All you can do is come back again and hope for better weather — and we definitely got that this year.”
Sixty bands performed on three stages over a four-day period.
Countryfest by the numbers:
- Number of tour buses that rolled through: 19
- Number of artist meet-and-greets: 11
- Number of lucky fans who got to meet-and-greet: 385
- Number of bags of ice used on site: 20,500
- Number of perogies eaten in the perogy-eating contest: 500
- Number of minutes the winner took to eat 50 perogies: less than 4!
- Number of members on Countryfest’s Board of Directors: 12
- Number of full-time year-round Countryfest staff: 3
- Number of volunteers who work at the festival: 2000
- Number of years that Eric Irwin has attended: 26
- Number of years that Rob Waloschuk has been booking the talent: 25
- Number of years that Kenny Shaw has been Master of Ceremonies: 24 (**note – he is retiring after this year)
Hats off to everyone at @Country_Fest for just having a good ol time! #dauphindet received only 15 calls for service. #rcmpmb
— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) June 29, 2015
Next year’s Countryfest is June 30 to July 3, 2016.
