Dauphin’s Countryfest, Canada’s longest-running country music festival, kicks off its 37th year on June 25 at the Selo Ukraina venue south of Dauphin, Manitoba, bringing a star-studded lineup but a big change—no more day passes. This year, it is weekend passes or nothing, a switch that has some longtime fans upset but is driving record presales.
Headliners include Jelly Roll on Saturday, Nate Smith on Sunday, and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line on Friday. They lead a bill of over 60 acts on three stages, mixing Nashville hitmakers with Canadian talent like Brett Kissel and the Hunter Brothers.
The move to weekend-pass-only means a four-day general admission pass costs $369 plus fees and taxes. Festival president Duane McMaster said the board is seriously considering making it permanent, pointing to patron surveys that want big-name artists and the high cost of offering single-day tickets. Presales are already double past years, with daily crowds expected between 8,000 and 10,000.
The festival runs alongside the 134th Annual Dauphin Fair at the nearby Agricultural Grounds from June 26 to 28, with a midway, livestock shows, and a demolition derby. Together, they create a packed weekend of country music and rural celebration on the edge of Riding Mountain National Park.
Promoter Rob Waloschuk, who has worked on 36 of the festival’s 37 editions and earned the International Entertainment Buyer of the Year Award in Nashville in 2011, called this year’s lineup one of the best ever. The site’s 10,000-seat outdoor amphitheatre and up to 3,400 campsites anchor what has been a cornerstone of summer in the Parkland since 1990.
