By Braden Dupuis
Even though there are still five months before the gates open for the 10th annual Gateway Festival in Bengough, Saskatchewan, organizers are hard at work.
The music festival’s lineup must be finalized and made public by the end of March.
“It’s been a very organic evolution from what started as just sort of a one-night concert that they put together in Bengough,” said Mike Dawson, artistic director for the festival.
“We go through this difficult process of having to choose.”
It’s a welcome problem for the burgeoning festival.
In the early days, it was the festival who would reach out to artists and agents when booking its lineup.
Now it’s the other way around.
“We had about 400 artists who approached us, but there’s only room for 30 at most,” Dawson said.
They key to success, Dawson said, is putting forward a diverse lineup centered around Saskatchewan-based musicians.
“It’s important for me that it is a Saskatchewan festival, and it’s about building community and creating those relationships,” he said.
Despite the relatively short summer season, Saskatchewan is home to more than a dozen music festivals, spanning everything from jazz and rock to country and traditional culture.
While the music varies, the festivals all share the common theme of community – among patrons and artists alike.
“The community aspect is one of the nice, kind of not-so-talked about parts of it,” said Kenny Martelli, of Saskatoon-based band the Classy Chassys.
With the Classy Chassys, Martelli has played at festivals across Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Not only do festivals provide an outlet for the band to showcase its music to new audiences, they also help forge relationships between musicians.
“You get to get close with people you would only just hear about here and there,” Martelli said.
“You form those networks and before you know it you’re playing shows together.”
And musicians aren’t the only ones to benefit from music festivals.
“They contribute to the economy and to the bottom line of businesses, and they bring profile to the province and to Saskatchewan artists,” Tourism Saskatchewan CEO Pat Fiacco said in an email.
“The fact that a number of festivals have endured speaks to the support of communities and the dedication of volunteers.”
Festivals like the Gateway Festival wouldn’t be possible without the help of volunteers.
“It’s actually unimaginable, I would say, the amount of work that goes into it,” Dawson said with a laugh.
“At this point, with close to 300 volunteers working on the festival, it’s still tens of thousands of hours, collectively.”
But even as the festival grows, it stays close to the small-town roots that keep it so grounded in Saskatchewan.
‘I think that’s part of (the success), is the people of Bengough,” Dawson said.
“Everyone I know that went last year for the first time, all the feedback that I got was about how friendly and helpful everyone was from the town.”
