Overview Country Thunder Saskatchewan is a four-day country music festival in the Qu'Appelle Valley at Craven, half an hour north of Regina. It began as the Craven Country Jamboree and now runs under Country Thunder Music Festivals, which also stages festivals in Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida and Alberta. It bills itself as Saskatchewan's longest-running music festival. Each July the party opens in the beer gardens on Thursday night, then moves to the main stage for the weekend. On site Around 4,000 campsites fill the valley, and every site comes with two weekend passes. The concert bowl has a Gold Circle in front of the stage, reserved Platinum and Gold seats, and a Platinum Experience pit with a covered lounge, private bar and backstage hospitality. General admission is lawn-style. The 19+ beer gardens run late sets after the main stage closes. Buckin' Thunder pro bull riding, sanctioned by Bull Riders Canada, takes over the Agribition Arena on the grounds. SGI runs a free SafeRide shuttle from Regina and Moose Jaw. Audience The crowd skews female: 63% women and 37% men. 57% are Gen Z or Millennials and 32% are Gen X. Most fans drive in from Saskatchewan, followed by Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Many families have camped here for decades and renew the same campsite and seats every summer. Talent and Influencers Recent main-stage headliners include Lainey Wilson, Riley Green, Creed, Jason Aldean, Bailey Zimmerman, Def Leppard and Nickelback. Megan Moroney is the first name announced for the coming festival. The bill leans hard on Canadian acts too: the Hunter Brothers, Jess Moskaluke, Tim Hicks, The Road Hammers, James Barker Band, The Dead South and Cameron Whitcomb have all played the valley. Tim McGraw once joined a pickup football game on the grounds. Track record Roy Orbison headlined the first Jamboree in the valley. Troy Vollhoffer, who worked as a stagehand at early shows, took the event over and later folded it into Country Thunder, which gave it more buying power for big acts. Rolling Thunder, a touring trailer museum of festival memorabilia, now tours the province before the gates open. Brand presence Ram puts its name on the main stage. SGI sponsors the SafeRide shuttle, and Canadian Western Agribition powers the bull riding arena. Bud Light, Budweiser and Michelob Ultra pour alongside Twisted Tea, Jameson, J.P. Wiser's and Queen City Distillers. SaskTel, Pepsi, Sherwood Co-op, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and a bench of provincial country radio stations round out the partner wall. Official partners get category exclusivity.