Gateway Music Festival: keeping Bengough on the map

While attendees are looking forward to catching the lineup of performers taking the stages next weekend at the Gateway Music Festival, taking place this July 21st to 23rd, the entire town of Bengough is preparing to put on the show, to accommodate tourists, and to ensure everyone has a safe and fun time.

Lori Whyte, one of the Directors of the Bengough Municipal Arts Council (BMAC), said even with a town population of 300, each year they have around 250 volunteers to help make it happen.

"As soon as they hear about the festival, they want to become a part of it," she shared. "We have people that come to partake in the festival who actually want to volunteer while they're there, which is so shocking, but they just want to be a part of it."

In fact, some residents and former residents of the town only see each other during Gateway. 

"It's a meeting ground for past Bengough residents. They come home, they enjoy some good food, music, and maybe a drink or two," she noted. "People come back to town that aren't actually living in town anymore as well, they volunteer because they're from Bengough, and they just want to continue to see the community thrive, and the best way is to have a fun festival."

Beginning with pancake breakfasts each morning, the town ensures there are plenty of activities for those taking in the whole weekend, even when there are no performers on stage.

"There are so many other things around town to take part in, and if you see somebody with a volunteer shirt, you have a question, they will probably be able to answer it for you. One thing that we as BMAC have taken pride in is showing who our volunteers are by providing them with a volunteer T-shirt. And then there's somebody for the people that aren't from town that can go to and say, 'hey, I'm looking for this. Do you know where I can find it?'," she described. 

The family-friendly event isn't just a benefit to those who want to see some live music, but it's also a huge boost to the community in general, such as the grocery store, the drug store, small restaurants, the cafe, and other businesses, as well as the museum, swimming pool, and other tourist attractions. The surrounding communities benefit as well, with tourists also taking in the train and museum in Ogema, the golf course in Willow Bunch, Big Muddy, Castle Butte, the town of Coronach, and Big Beaver Provincial Park.

"The Big Muddy is such a beautiful place, and this year it'll be great because we haven't been in that much of a drought. Everything is just very vibrant down there right now," noted Whyte.

On Saturday, a car show will be held on Main Street, and there will be some live music at the swimming pool and a barbeque will be hosted by the Bengough Agricultural Society.

For those who are staying in town for the weekend, there is a bus that can transport people to and from the music festival.

"So if you don't feel that you want to drive or you aren't able to walk all the way, we have little bus stops all around town that you can catch the bus," she shared. "If you flag them down, they'll stop and pick you up. It doesn't even have to be right at an actual bus stop. The people that are driving the bus also have stories to tell you about the community because 90 percent of the people that are in the community for the weekend, if they're not working, they're just taking it in as festival." 

The number of people who stay in the town for the weekend has grown each year, with, at one point, overflow camping holding around 400 RVs in the field surrounding the venue.

"Because we have such a small hotel, we have lots of people that have been volunteering their trailers and RV's for our artists and our stage crew, because it's too much of a distance to drive back and forth to Regina, right? So it's nice to have everybody stay on site and we're so thankful to our volunteers that they donate their RV's for us to use for the weekend so that we can keep everybody together."

Within the venue gates, there are also plenty of activities for children, including a performer, face-painting, crafts, bouncy castles, and other activities.

"We also have a kids train that was built by a former resident of Bengough, Les Anderson, and he put this beautiful little train together and we have people that will be driving the train around," Whyte shared. "We're not sure if they'll be going up to the car show with it this year, but they do go through the festival area with it so the kids can have a little ride around instead of on mom and dad's hip all the time." 

She said even with so many people attending the festival, the atmosphere is relaxed. 

"We are family-friendly. We don't want to have it where you're scared to take your kids. We have our local RCMP that come out and they're there as a presence. They're not there to intimidate anybody. We have a private group that does security on the grounds just to make sure everybody stays safe, too, because we all just want to have a good time."

Other than during COVID restrictions, numbers have been steady at around 1,500 to 2,000 attendees each year.

Whyte said the event has grown so much over the last 17 years that it has become, 'a place that you need to be, if you haven't been there yet'. 

"We've had some fantastic entertainment over the years and it's all down to a group of 12 that wanted to see Bengough stay on the map. We're bringing entertainment to you at its finest, in little old Bengough."

Advanced pricing is available until the end of Thursday, July 20th. Day passes are an option, or you can get a full-weekend pass as well. The tickets can be purchased online through Showpass (HERE), and can be purchased in person from vendors in Bengough, Assiniboia, Coronach, Moose Jaw, Radville, Willow Bunch, Ogema, and at Pharmasave in Weyburn.

Acts sure to draw a crowd this year include the Johner Boys, Serena Ryder, Odds, Sloan, and 54-40.

"So it sounds like we're gonna have a really upbeat kind of a weekend," Whyte commented. "We have so many of the more local people that are coming back again, and we've been so fortunate to have recurring bands like Library Voices, Chixdiggit, and Small City Blues. Then of course on our Garden Stage, we will also have the Badlands band, which is a local band, and they bring down the house."

For the first time this year, they have moved their 50/50 raffle online.

"So this year there won't be the people coming up to you and saying, 'hey, buy a ticket'. We're going to be handing out QR codes so that people can just do it all electronically. Less paper, which is better for our environment. Everything will be posted on our website once the winner is drawn."

She said the winning ticket announcement will be made at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night, and the maximum payout would be $25,000. The proceeds will benefit BMAC, a non-profit organization, and will roll forward into making future events possible.