Fans prep for Saskatchewan’s largest music festival in Craven

WATCH: Country music fans are taking over the village of Craven for Country Thunder. Sierra D’Souza Butts brings us more.

Country music fans are taking over the village of Craven for this year’s Country Thunder Saskatchewan.

“It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you’re from or any of that. None of that matters. It’s just [about] having fun,” said Brant Britton, who has been attending the festival for 15 years with his family.

Britton is one of thousands of campers preparing for the province’s largest country music festival - which runs from July 10th-13th.

“It’s an old community you’re coming back to. It’s like a ghost town that revitalizes for four days every year,” he added.

Throughout the day on Wednesday, people rolled into the campgrounds with their motorhomes and camping equipment to set up for the weekend event.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

The festival’s lineup consists of close to 20 musicians – including country music superstars Jason Aldean and Bailey Zimmerman, along with the 1980s rock group Def Leppard.

“Some of the shows that we do that they are legacy festivals, they’re historical festivals, and we have a really strong fan base of bands that [have] been coming for years and years,” shared Kim Blevins, executive director of Country Thunder Music Festivals.

As the event is one of seven festivals happening across North America, Blevins explained that a lot of preparation goes into each event - but Saskatchewan’s is a special case.

“Craven is the granddaddy. This is the one that started it all,” she shared.

“We all started here in 2005 and Troy [Vollhoffer] started here in 1983. The first iteration of the Big Valley Jamboree way, way, way back. We’re pretty proud of the fact that we built this brand across North America over the last 20 years and it all started here in little Craven in the Qu’Appelle Valley.”

“That to me is super special,” she added.

Over 20,000 people are expected to flood into the valley over the course of the four day festival.

The event will kick-off with local talent from Shaunavon, Sask. - as the Hunter Brothers are set to take the event’s beer gardens stage Thursday night.