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Sun-parched at Sunfest, but soldiering on for Maren Morris

LAKE COWICHAN — Fans get a little crispy — mentally and physically — by Day 3 of any music festival, but when onsite camping is woven into the fabric, the weary vibe is written on the faces of nearly everyone on site.

LAKE COWICHAN — Fans get a little crispy — mentally and physically — by Day 3 of any music festival, but when onsite camping is woven into the fabric, the weary vibe is written on the faces of nearly everyone on site.

Suburnt skin isn’t the only collateral damage that happens at an outdoor festival, to say the least — a battle scar some were proud to display on Saturday afternoon at Lake Cowichan’s Sunfest Music Festival.

“I've been here since Wednesday,” Sherene Wilson of Campbell River said as she relaxed in her campground before the evening festivities. “I’m surprised I know what day it is. But I’m having the best time.”

The four-day festival festival enjoyed a strong turn from headliner Jason Aldean on Friday night, with the Nashville star helping to draw a crowd of about 8,000 to the 172-acre Lakedown Ranch site.

After his triumphant set, two after-party stages — featuring Victoria acts DJ Primitive and the County Line — were in action until about 2 a.m. Saturday, so the slow start later in the day made sense for some in the crowd.

“All things considered, this has been a very smooth festival,” said Addie Clark, who worked in the festival’s health-services tent for AMC Medical.

Once the masses assembled at the main stage for a high-energy performance from Nashville’s Mitchell Tenpenny, sing-alongs were the order of the day.

His set offered by-the-minute thrills, and his songs were met with what amounted to a hero’s welcome. The singer-songwriter is definitely one to watch, and will likely go down as one of the highlights of this year’s proceedings.

The festival hit a groove when Maren Morris (she of the hundreds of millions of YouTube views) took the stage at 10 p.m. as Saturday’s headliner, and her high-wattage performance will be one that is eventually added to the festival’s upper-echelon alumni, which includes everyone from Carrie Underwood to Keith Urban.

The Saturday night crowd didn’t seem as large as the one gathered for Aldean the previous night, but it was equally as active.

Reports were that 8,000 fans were on site Saturday. That makes four consecutive year of 30,000 people passing through the festival gates for each edition.

Sunfest continues today with sets from Michael Ray and Kip Moore, among others Tickets are still available. Go to sunfestconcerts.com for more information.

mdevlin@timescolonist.com