Rain ponchos outnumbered T-shirts and the festival grounds turned muddy within hours, but that didn’t stop Yorkton’s inaugural Living Skies Music Festival from kicking off with a celebration of country music on Friday. The two-day festival opened its gates at 3 p.m. despite sputtering rain. Early on, there was no rush through the entrances, and only a handful of people camped out in lawn chairs near the stage. Those who opted to stay dry took shelter in the upper rows of the grandstand overlooking the festival grounds. The soulfulness of the Christian country band collect.assembly complemented the slow and rainy summer afternoon. As the rain continued, sand gradually turned to mud and organizers began filling the admissions gate area with woodchips. Around 7 p.m., by the time country artist Darryl Anderson took the stage, more and more people showed up. “It is very fitting,” Anderson told the crowd before launching into Luke Combs’ When It Rains It Pours. Yorkton Coun. Dustin Brears arrived later in the afternoon and said his first impression of the festival was overwhelmingly positive. “I love it. This is professional. There’s food trucks, and we’ve got two really good acts going on here shortly,” he said, referring to Jess Moskaluke and Dallas Smith. He added that excitement around the event remained high throughout city hall despite the wet conditions. “Everyone’s so excited,” Brears said. “The rain kind of puts a damper on the festival, but it’s [the] first year. We’re going to make the best of it.” Brears thinks the event’s long-term potential outweighs any concerns about the weather. “If there’s an artist they want to see, they’re coming, rain or shine,” he said. “This type of festival, in a year or two as it grows and grows, rain’s not going to stop the show from going on.” Festival promoter Tarell Sterner admitted organizers were concerned when the rain showed little sign of letting up earlier in the day. “It’s going way better than what we were worried about,” he told CTV News just before 8 p.m. “The rain let off, we’ve got a light mist, and everybody’s having a great time.” Sterner said organizers adjusted the site during the afternoon, including moving some tents to improve sightlines for people watching from the grandstand. Aside from a temporary issue with the ticketing platform and managing standing water on site, the festival’s opening day went largely according to their plan. “The feedback’s been phenomenal,” Sterner said. “Even trying to talk to people about the weather, they’re saying, ‘This is great.’ They’re having a blast.” As nightfall approached and the rain eased to a light drizzle, larger groups of people began arriving. By the time Saskatchewan country star Jess Moskaluke took the stage, the grounds looked more like the festival organizers had envisioned, with steady streams of people flowing through the gates. Sterner expects even larger crowds on Saturday, when sunnier weather and a rock-focused lineup are expected to draw people to the Gallagher Centre’s rodeo grounds. “We fully anticipate people are going to talk about what this is now that people are actually seeing it firsthand,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be crazy.” For a festival making its debut under less-than-ideal conditions, Friday offered an early sign that Yorkton’s newest summer event may have found an audience willing to brave a little rain for live music.
