Heavy smoke fills the air at Country Thunder

Friday marks the first big performances at the Country Thunder music festival, but the conditions will be less than ideal for performers and fans alike.

With heavy smoke in the air across southern Saskatchewan, air quality alerts from Environment Canada remain in effect.

“Portions of the southwest in particular are likely to remain poor well into the weekend,” Environment Canada said on its website.

According to Terry Lang, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, the smoke is coming from northern Alberta, B.C and the Northwest Territories.

This isn’t the first time smoke has rolled into Craven, Sask., during the festival. And it’s something the musicians will have to deal with.

“For the artists, the smoke is top of mind,” said Carmen Choney, stage manager at Country Thunder. “You can hear it in their voice, you can hear I everyone’s voice. But most artists are really good at staying on top of it.”

Choney said as of Friday afternoon, there is no risk of shows being cancelled due to air quality.

And while it may make it more difficult to breathe, Choney said there is an advantage to having the smoke.

“The smoke is going to make for some really good lights. There is no need for haze when you have some smoke in the air,” she explained.

But the smoke means festival goers may experience increased coughing, throat irritation, headaches, or shortness of breath.

“If you start to notice shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, we ask you go back to your site and get out of the elements as much as you can,” emergency responder Chelsey Mitchell said.

Mitchell advised festival goers to stay hydrated as much as possible and find fresh air when they can.

Children, seniors, and people with cardiovascular or lung issues, such as asthma, are especially at risk.

Lang expects the smoke to mostly leave the southern parts of the province within the next day or two, but it could stick around in the southwest corner.

“It just depends so much on the wind direction and what the fires are doing at the time,” Lang said. “We are expecting another bunch of heat to move in next week and that’s probably just going to exacerbate the forest fire conditions, unfortunately.

“So people should expect more smoke through the summer and just be prepared as best they can to deal with it.”