‘We get a free concert’: What’s it like to have a music festival in your backyard?

YQM Country Music Festival kicks off in Dieppe, New Brunswick.

For the fourth summer in a row, Dieppe residents living near city hall will entertain around 20,000 new neighbours for three straight days.

The YQM Country Fest started Thursday and runs until around 11 p.m. Saturday.

Music lovers have been treated to shows from some of the biggest names in country.

What makes the festival different from similar summer events in Cavandish and Halifax is YQM is located smack dab in the middle of a Dieppe neighbourhood.

“We basically have a show in our backyard,” said Frank Bosse.

Bosse, his fiancé and friend set up a popcorn and drink stand for concert-goers headed into the festival site.

Business was pretty good last summer.

“Basically around four to five grand just by selling water, Gatorade, popcorn, all that kind of stuff. That was over the three days,” said Bosse.

Just up the street, Serge Bordage rents his driveway and lawn for parking spaces.

He makes a few bucks over the weekend with the side business, meets a lot of people and throws a big party on his front lawn.

“The concert site here brings a lot of people here in the Dieppe area, puts us on the map and I think it’s great. It’s great for the local economy. It brings a lot of money in,” said Bordage.

Max Daigle is planning on having around 50 people over for a giant get-together in his driveway.

“It’s great. We’re having family and friends over. It’s the one big gathering of the summer. It’s lots of fun, good music and good crowds,” said Daigle. “It can get a little busy but overall it’s good entertainment.”

Joe Hubbard lives a stone’s throw away from the entrance gate and thinks the three-day event is a big benefit for the city and the downtown area.

“The people are respectful. They’re polite, they’re OK. I think it’s good to bring the attention back to downtown Dieppe. They’ve done a lot of development. It looks good and people should see it,” said Hubbard. “They don’t bother anybody and it’s good. We get a free concert out of it.”

There have been some noticeable changes this year.

After discussions with nearby property owners, the City of Dieppe installed additional fencing to provide better protection for people’s yards.

Joel MacGregor is staying with his father who lives right next door to one of the exits.

“It has gotten significantly better with the gates, the security. Just managing the people on the outside it’s actually been quite good,” said MacGregor. “The sound checks can be a little over bearing sometimes with the bass and whatnot, but once they get it dialed in it’s not too bad.”

For the second straight year, the city is asking tenants at an apartment building on rue Ste-Thérèse to not park in their allotted spot, but at the school right next door.

“An agreement was reached with the owners to allow tenants to park at a nearby location since access to their parking lot entrance is restricted due to the street closure,” said city spokesperson Julie Albert. “If any tenants have mobility needs, we are happy to assist them in getting in and out of the building.”

That’s an inconvenience for Frank Vinet who lives in the building which is right next to the main entrance.

“They locked the gate in front of our parking lot and they gave us a place to park in the school yard and we have to have a pass to get in there and this is our parking space. We can’t park here,” said Vinet.

Vinet enjoys the festive spirit in his neighbourhood, but doesn’t like having 20,000 people, some inebriated, exiting the concert grounds all at once late at night.

“It’s a nuisance. It’s the wrong place to have it. There’s houses all around,” said Vinet.

His eight-year-old grand-daughter Abbie Hebert isn’t a big fan of the noise.

“It’s very hard to sleep because the bedrooms are the closest thing to the music,” she said.

Bosse said the noise is rough for those with small children, but YQM is a great weekend for people who love country music

“The bass is pretty loud,” said Bosse. “There’s pros and cons for sure.”

After Saturday night’s show, the stage and fencing will come down and the quiet Dieppe neighbourhood will go back to normal.

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.