The crowd from La Ronge's Napatak Ramble in 2021. (Napatak Ramble/Facebook)

By Nick Nielsen

Small town Saskatchewan staple

A look into the impacts of small town summer festivals in Saskatchewan

Jul 27, 2025 | 11:00 AM

Back to Batoche, Ness Creek Music Festival in Big River, Bow Valley Jamboree in Oxbow, the Gateway Festival in Bengough, the Waskesiu Lakeside Music Festival, the Napatak Ramble in La Ronge, Macklin World Bunnock Championship Tournament. These are just a few of the annual festivals in Saskatchewan that turn small towns into cultural hotspots in the province.

It doesn’t matter where you go in Saskatchewan, every summer in nearly every small community, you’ll find a festival that brings a ton of visitors to town. CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan, Jonathan Potts, said that festivals create so much more than just a fun night or two for the towns.

“They build community, they create jobs, bring in volunteers, bring in tourists. Everybody comes together with residents, newcomers, visitors. It really speaks to the social fabric of the province and what makes Saskatchewan great. But yeah, the music is often the thing. Whether it’s local or provincial bands, or whether it’s some of those big names coming from outside the province, the notoriety of some of the festivals in Saskatchewan has really taken off.”

Aside from your Country Thunder Saskatchewan in Craven every year attracting big names, smaller festivals such as the Gateway Festival in Bengough are attracting headliners The Washboard Union this year.

“Whether it’s local or provincial bands, or whether it’s some of those big names coming from outside the province, the notoriety of some of the festivals in Saskatchewan has really taken off much like Gateway in Bengough or Ness Creek at Big River. They just do a fantastic job and Saskatchewan residents are known for their volunteerism. So it just takes those festivals to another level and the performers recognize that too.”

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All of these festivals draw in all kinds of people, locals to the community, people originally from these towns returning home as part of annual tradition, and outside people who just have a love for the music that’s playing or exploring new communities. The Back to Batoche Festival last weekend had one group drive nearly 2,000 kilometres from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories just to be a part of it.

READ MORE: Group drives 2,000 km to go to Back to Batoche

Some of the towns hosting these festivals aren’t big enough to accommodate everyone that comes to town, but that isn’t a bad thing according to Potts. While Tourism Saskatchewan doesn’t have hard numbers on the economic impact from these festivals, but there’s no denying the they do make a difference.

“Some of these events, they draw in as many or more people than actually live in the communities at times. So you see that spillover effect into the restaurants, the accommodations, the gas stations, maybe artisans or what have you in surrounding communities, because once you draw people to a community, they want to explore, they want to get out and see a little bit more, and we see that right across the province. So it’s a terrific way to generate not only enjoyment, but also economic impact for the surrounding area.”

Even with Saskatchewan experiencing one of its smokiest years on record, that hasn’t stopped festival goers from getting outside and enjoying some good entertainment.

“For example, Big Flat Folk Fest (in just their second year) was just in Eastend on the weekend of July 11th, and I think they had a crowd around 1,200 people, and that’s in a community of about 600. So it’s a good sign that people are still coming out regardless.”

Whether it’s a music festival bringing in big name artists, or small town slo-pitch tournaments that bring people back to their home towns, all of these events have a large importance to Tourism Saskatchewan. For Potts, seeing every town have their own unique celebrations speaks to the character of people from Saskatchewan.

“They’re very, very important. Small town festivals, whether it’s a music festival or another type of event, they just speak to who we are as people, they speak again to that spirit of volunteerism. They speak to that spirit of community, of welcoming, of warmth, of generosity, and having fun. I would argue that people in Saskatchewan know how to have fun as well as anybody in this country, and in this continent. So it just, it just speaks to the brand of who we are as a province and who we are as a people.”

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com