Country music fans — get ready for the summer of a lifetime! 97.9 The Cowboy is giving you the chance to WIN the Ultimate Country Thunder Saskatchewan Experience with our biggest giveaway of the year!

🎪 What You Could Win:

We’re giving away FOUR weekend general admission passes to Country Thunder Saskatchewan 2025!
This year’s festival features an epic lineup of country superstars including:

• Def Leppard

• Jason Aldean

• Bailey Zimmerman

• Kip Moore

• Nate Smith

• Tyler Hubbard

• Sara Evans

• James Barker Band

• The Road Hammers

• Jess Moskaluke, and so many more!

🎤 Plus, don’t miss the Kick-Off Party featuring the Hunter Brothers!

🎯 How to Enter:

To qualify for this contest, you must:

✅ Be 19 years or older
✅ Be a resident of Canada
✅ Sign up for the EVO Radio VIP Club 👉 https://vipclub.evoradio.ca
✅ Then tune in to 97.9 The Cowboy at 11:30am CST (GMT-6) on June 6 & June 13, 2025 — thats when we’ll announce the winners LIVE on-air!

🎁 Brought to You By:

A huge thank you to our proud sponsors:
Durango Boots, ECOFLOW TECHNOLOGY, and Bad Ass Extension Cords – powering up your summer fun!

Don’t miss your chance to experience the music, energy, and excitement of Country Thunder Saskatchewan — enter now and get ready to ride! 🤠

Country music star Keith Urban will be performing two shows in Saskatchewan as part of his upcoming “High and Alive World Tour.”

Known for the hits such as “Long Hot Summer,” “Days Go By,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Somewhere In My Car,” “The Fighter,” “Wasted Time,” “Somebody Like You,” and “One Too Many,” the four time Grammy award winner will perform at the Brandt Centre in Regina on Sept. 13th and at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon on Sept. 15.

The visits to Saskatchewan were revealed as a Canadian leg was added to Urban’s world tour.

The star is set to visit eight cities across Canada in total – with each performance featuring Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins.

The High and Alive tour will begin May 22 in Orange Beach, Alabama and wraps up in Nashville on Oct. 17.

A trail of campers, RVs and trailers made their way to Craven on Wednesday, in preparation for the four day non-stop celebration that is Country Thunder Saskatchewan.

The country music festival returns once again to the valley – this year celebrating its one millionth fan.

Whomever happens to be the lucky attendee will be awarded with two platinum experience passes and artist hospitality access for life – along with other prizes.

“I mean the people that have been here before know that this is something really hard to explain unless you’ve actually experienced it but we’ve got all the music Friday, Saturday, Sunday on our main stage,” Digital Manager Megan Benoit told CTV News.

“We’ve also got our beer gardens and our songwriter stage so really entertainment for everyone on all three of those stages.”

Synonymous with the festival is the high temperatures predicted for the weekend.

The festival’s medical team shared some advice for those spending their weekend in the valley.

“Find some shade. Keep yourself hydrated. Make sure that you’re eating properly, because your body is going to burn the fuel a lot faster than this heat,” Health and Safety Manager Belinda Mitchell explained.

“Make sure you’re wearing a hat, sunglasses. Make sure you get those fluids in you to go with the alcohol.”

For many attendees, it is far from their first rodeo.

That’s the case for Jim Monaghan. He’s attended the past 14 Country Thunder Saskatchewan festivals – and has the wristbands to prove it.

He shared some tips he’s picked up over the years.

“Buy a good generator, bring lots of gas, bring lots of drinks, some refreshments, and make sure the power is working for the heat,” he said. “Friends of ours bring a foot pool. At minimum throw some ice in there, leave your feet in there.”

Festivities begin on Thursday, with Dallas Smith headlining on Friday night, followed by Nickelback on Saturday. Luke Combs will close out the weekend Sunday night.

Country music star Luke Bryan took a tumble while on stage in Vancouver on Saturday night, and he and fans laughed it off.

The singer and American Idol judge was in town for the Coast City Country Festival at B.C. Place, a stop on his “Mind of a Country Boy Tour.”

Videos on social media show the fall unfold—Bryan is seen walking across the stage, when his feet suddenly go up from under him and he lands flat on his back.

It appears he slipped on a fan’s phone, as he holds it up and jokes “my lawyer will be calling” before throwing it to someone in the crowd.

Bryan then asks if anyone caught the bail on camera. An audience member passes their phone to him, and he replays the video for the crowd.

“I need some viral,” he says. “This is viral!”

Coast City Country wrapped up on Saturday, when Bryan headlined the main stage following Nickelback on Friday.