Community Spirit Strong at Ness Creek Music Festival

In my younger days I was a guitarist in a rock & roll band, and a dream of ours was to play at the Ness Creek Festival- a rite of passage for any band worth its salt. Back then I would never have thought that my first time at Ness Creek would be years later as the Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberals.

 
We arrived at Ness Creek in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday after a coffee and dinner party in Blaine Lake. The gates of the festival site had only been open a few hours, and already the grounds were swarming with campers and festival- goers. There was barely any room for us to park the RV, we were lucky to get one of the last available sites. 
 
Ryan Androsoff and I strolled around the fields of campers and festival facilities. Tents were strewn throughout the bush with all kinds of banners, clotheslines, lights, and signs adorning various layouts that made each site unique temporary homes for whoever was staying there. This was definitely ‘no frills’ rustic living.
 
As evening drew near we made our way to the stage area to wait for the bands to start. We sat at a picnic table and throughout the evening met several people who joined us as they were looking for a seat. The first act was on stage as the sun began to set, and throughout the evening we were treated to four artists that played on into the early hours of the morning. 
 
The vibe of the event was very relaxed and very down to earth. It seemed that everyone was there simply to celebrate good music and good company in the northern forest. There was a genuine sense of community that was evident in the good humour shared between complete strangers with little in common beyond the fact that most everyone was from Saskatchewan and was simply there to have fun.