The streets may be covered with snow, but the organizers behind one of Manitoba’s largest festivals are already looking ahead to summer fun.
Dauphin’s Countryfest unveiled its first list of performers Friday who are scheduled to take the stage at the 35th edition of the annual event — Canada’s longest-running country festival — slated for next June.
Countryfest’s 2024 lineup features a number of boldface names, including multi-platinum chart-toppers Alabama, Grammy-winning country-rockers the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, ’90s-’00s country star Jo Dee Messina, and long-running Christian country act Diamond Rio.
Mark Chestnutt, The Frontmen, Patricia Conroy, Beverly Mahood and Lisa Brokop are among the others rounding out the bill, as well as popular Canadian artists like Jason McCoy, Doc Walker and Michelle Wright.
If many of those names seem nostalgic, that’s by design. Countryfest’s Kamryn Winters told Global Winnipeg that, as part of the 35th anniversary, the festival is throwing it back to some of the artists who were topping the charts when the event was first created.
“Our 35th anniversary is throwing it back to the roots of Countryfest, the beginning of Countryfest and just taking people back down that nostalgic ’90s country kind of feel,” she said.
“It’s quite different (asking artists to) come to Dauphin, Manitoba … but these artists — probably all of them — have graced our stage at one point within the last 35 years, and Countryfest has made a name for itself.
“We have this amazing site and these artists truly love coming to our festival and playing at the stage there — it’s nothing like anything else in Canada.”
The event is not only a must-do on country music fans’ calendars, but it’s a boon to the wider region of western Manitoba as well. Winters said the non-profit festival has about a $3-million economic impact, with funds going right back into the community.
“We’ve built a theatre, we’ve built skateparks, we’ve built splash parks,” Winters said.
“It’s a really good structure and it’s a great system. We have great sponsors, we have great supporters, we have members…. It’s just an amazing festival that needs to keep going for years to come.”
Tickets for the 2024 edition of Countryfest go on sale Nov. 13, and more artists are set to be announced as the event approaches.
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