SUNFEST COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Where: Laketown Ranch Music and Recreation Park, 8811-2 Youbou Rd., Lake Cowichan
When: Thursday, Aug. 3, through Sunday, Aug. 6
Tickets: sunfest.frontgatetickets.com
Organizers of Lake Cowichan’s Sunfest Country Music Festival are anticipating the festival’s largest attendance since 2018 this week, with the potential to set an all-time record Sunday when country star Blake Shelton takes the stage.
“It will be right there,” said festival manager Mike Hann. “Eric Church [in 2018] resulted in our biggest crowd to date, but this is near that. We’re going into this weekend strong. We’ve seen a big ramp up in the last couple of weeks. It’s got the potential to be our biggest show yet at Laketown Ranch.”
Hann said the four-day festival held at Laketown Ranch Music and Recreation Park could have 13,000 people on site each day this weekend for performances by Shelton, Lainey Wilson, Billy Currington, Lone star, Kameron Marlowe, Jade Eagleson, and more. Sunfest is the top country music festival in the province and the biggest paid event of any kind on Vancouver Island.
Its popularity can be attributed to a combination of factors, sunny weather being one. Not only is country music more popular than ever — Taylor Swift, whose roots are as a country performer, is midway through the highest-grossing tour in history — there’s a built-in appeal to the location itself, which allows for on-site camping.
Laketown Ranch Music and Recreation Park, all 172 acres of it, becomes a small city during the week, with some campers remaining on site for up to five days. Programming begins with a kick-off party Thursday and wraps early Monday morning, following late-night sets on the festival’s side stage, “one of the biggest amphitheatres on Vancouver Island,” according to Hann. The festival’s concrete main stage is the largest permanent stage structure in B.C.
He expects more than 1,000 of the 1,400 available campsites to be occupied Wednesday, with the remainder of guests in place by Friday. Camping is sold out, which means those coming to the event will need to find off-site accommodations. Shuttle bus service runs between Lake Cowichan and Duncan, and there’s additional service to and from Victoria.
Malahat traffic has been a problem all summer, so advance planning is key, Hann said. “We’re telling our artists that if they are staying in Victoria, they need to give themselves four hours to get here. Which is ludicrous. But I would say the same for guests. Come early.”
Shelton’s Vancouver Island debut is the top draw at this year’s event, thanks to his 13-year run as a judge on NBC’s reality competition, The Voice. He has scored 28 No. 1 singles and seven No. 1 albums on the Billboard country charts during his career.
Wilson is moving into a position as a very strong second option, however. The Louisiana native has become a social media sensation in recent years, her profile bolstered by her role as Abby on the fifth season of the hit TV show, Yellowstone. Wilson’s fourth album, Bell Bottom Country, also won album of the year at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, cementing her position as a future star on the country circuit.
She joins previous Sunfest performers Hardy, Sam Hunt, Old Dominion, and Midland in the category of acts who appeared at the festival before their careers took full flight.
“We’re attracting global talent now, and that is something that has been a goal at Laketown Ranch since the onset. We strive to have one of the best venues for guests and artists in Western Canada, and we’re proud of that. But you need to have top tier talent to attract people.”
The infrastructure at Laketown Ranch is constantly expanding to accommodate the influx. Organizers are never not doing something, Hann said. In recent weeks, shade sails and additional turf to mitigate dust from foot traffic have been added, in anticipation of high temperatures this weekend.
“Obviously, you need people to come to enjoy the venue, so that you can continue to attract big talent. The two things go hand in hand. Every little investment we make into this place, for the guest experience, helps the artists have a great experience, and they spread the word.”
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