Country Thunder Saskatchewan

History

Contrasting its earlier reputation as a family-oriented event, a more raucous atmosphere also began to develop, to the point that the Ministry of Health distributed free condoms at the Jamboree in 1993, a Regina-based company organized a strip show at the local curling rink in 1994, and an attendee in 1995 was quoted as saying that she was in search of "fast horses, faster men and more beer".

After going into receivership, the Big Valley Jamboree was sold to the Queen City Kinsmen in February 1996, who ran the festival with a "back to the basics" approach with less commercialization. Unable to return the event to profitability, the Kinsmen relaunched the Jamboree as a classic rock festival in 2000, known as Rock 'N The Valley. In 2005, promoter Troy Vollhoffer (who had previously worked as a stagehand for early editions of the event) took over the festival, and relaunched it with a return to country music as the Craven Country Jamboree. The Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose has continued to be held.

On October 27, 2016, it was announced that the event would become part of Vollhoffer's Country Thunder series of festivals, with organizers stating that the integration gave it more "buying power" in terms of attracting larger acts.

In 2020 and 2021, the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival returned in 2022.

References

References

1. "An oral history of Craven – from humble beginnings, to floods, to massive music parties". [[Regina Leader-Post]].
2. (2019-07-11). "From Jamboree to Country Thunder: The evolution of Craven's iconic music festival". [[CBC News]].
3. "Big Valley Jamboree latest Edmonton-area festival cancelled due to COVID-19". [[Global News]].
4. "Jamboree unveils new name and its latest lineup". [[Regina Leader-Post]].
5. "Same party different name: Craven Country Jamboree rebrands". [[Global News]].
6. "Country Thunder Sask. announces 2021 acts after COVID-19 cancellation".
7. "Country Thunder Saskatchewan cancelled for 2nd straight year due to COVID-19". [[Global News]].
8. (2022-07-19). "Gwen Stefani, banana theft, and extreme heat among the top surprises of Country Thunder 2022". [[CTV News]].