LAKE COWICHAN — The main stage at Lake Cowichan’s Sunfest Music Festival enjoyed what is expected to be the weekend’s strongest consecutive run of artists on Friday night, with Nashville star Jason Aldean topping a bill that also included Canadian favourites Terri Clark and Washboard Union.
Music isn’t what you would call secondary at a festival such as this, but it certainly does battle with the campsite caccophony that permeates the 172-acre Laketown Ranch site, which has been host to Vancouver Island’s highest-profile music festival for the past four years. It continues through Sunday with sets from Maren Morris, Mitchell Tenpenny and Kip Moore.
A daily audience of 8,000 is expected to take in the four-day event, thousands of whom set up elaborate camps throughout the site. Jason McLaren of Nanaimo was part of a large crew that had a bit of everything in action Friday afternoon, from beer pong to the beanbag-toss game Cornhole.
“We aren’t stopping until the beer is gone,” McLaren, 21, said, to hoots and high fives from his campground brethren. “Sunfest is my favourite weekend of the year. We step our game up.”
A tour of Laketown Ranch, from the upper family-friendly campsites to the more rambunctious areas marked with designated names such as Joe Cocker and Bob Marley, painted a similar scene. Some campers bemoaned the rain that arrived Thursday night following sets by main stage acts Cody Johnson and Randy Houser, but the majority of fans were in good spirits during what turned out to be a very sunny and warm second day.
A zipline stretching across the rear of the main stage infield made its Sunfest debut this year, and was busy during Washboard Union’s set, while axe throwing and a bouncy castle were steady throughout the day.
A carnival atmosphere isn’t out of place at an event such as this, for good reason: When fans are on site for up to five days, the emphasis from organizers is on fun.
And Sunfest passed with flying colours Friday.
“The energy has been been especially high all day, with the excitement of the headliner and the feeling of having weathered the storm,” said festival manager Mike Hann.
Aldean (who arrived, surprisingly, on site Thursday night) was the big draw as the starry-headliner portion of the weekend got underway Friday evening, with fan fervour reaching a roar when he played Take a Little Ride, one of the many recognizable rockers from a career that includes 19 No. 1 country-radio hits. He was the largest name on the bill Friday, and perhaps the biggest draw of the festival. But both Clark (who sounded strong throughout her hour-long appearance) and Washboard Union (which had a remarkable reception from the audience) were impressive.
Aldean brought a stadium-sized show to Sunfest, which was to be expected; word of his massive touring entourage, including four semi-trucks of gear and six tour buses of band and crew, had been rumoured for weeks. He lived up to his billing and then some, drawing fans by the thousands from their campsites for his upbeat 10 p.m. set.
It’s a feat Morris is expected to match when she takes the stage Saturday night in the same slot. While she isn’t expect to match last year’s record-breaking attendance by seven-time Grammy Award nominee Eric Church, she has a shot — especially if the sunny weather continues.
Tickets are still available for Sunfest as it continues through Sunday.
• Coverage of the festival will continue in the Times Colonist through the weekend in print and at timescolonist.com.
• Visit sunfestconcerts.com for more information.
