It took longer than expected, but on Aug. 23, Waskesiu was full.
The northern Saskatchewan resort community typically welcomes tens of thousands of visitors over the course of a summer. However, those numbers tumbled this year as wildfires burned through the north, forcing Parks Canada to issue a pre-evacuation alert on July 13.
That alert ended on Aug. 5, and with the return of the Waskesiu Lakeside Music Festival returned, business is booming.
“It’s just wonderful for the town to be full of tourists and residents here,” said Jim Kerby, the Waskesiu Community Council chair and music festival organizing committee member. “It’s been a challenging summer for most of Saskatchewan, certainly the north. I just think this is a wonderful feeling to have so many people here willing to spend their time with us. I think it’s excellent.”
An estimated 5,000 to 5,500 people attended the annual three day music festival, brining some welcome signs of life back to the area. The wildfire situation in northern Saskatchewan—particularly the Buhl Fire burning in the north end of Prince Albert National Park—had organizers worried they’d have to cancel their signature August event.
Instead, Kerby said they’ll celebrate their most successful music festival ever. It’s a welcome sign after a challenging few weeks. Still, Kerby said it could have been much worse.
“I know that it’s been a very difficult summer for a lot of people,” he said. “It’s been tough on the businesses here, but what we’ve gone through is nothing compared to what some locations in Saskatchewan have suffered. We’re just very, very grateful, and grateful that people come out and share their time and talents with us.”
For local business owners, the return of the Lakeside Music Festival was a welcome return to normal. Gary Bender and his son Chris, the owners and operators of Waskesiu Resorts, said they had a promising start to the year, even with the large number of wildfires.
When the Buhl Fire started growing, however, that promising start evaporated.
“Things changed pretty rapidly,” Gary said.
“Parks Canada always errs on the side of caution when anything like this happens. People are very wary when there is a situation like that. It does hurt business because of just how the messaging comes across, but everybody tries to stay upbeat, positive, and say ‘we’ll get through it. It’s going to be over. We’re going to get forward.’”
The Benders aren’t expecting major difficulties. Most of their properties are available to rent seven months of the year, with some available all year round.
Instead, they’re worried about fellow business owners who need strong summer numbers to thrive.
“It’s a little bit different when you have that many days to work with,” Gary said. “A lot of these small shopkeepers, July 1 is almost their opening day.”
Despite the challenges, neither business owner expects to see any negative long-term effects. Visitors were already returning, Gary said, and the Waksesiu Lakeside Music Festival cemented the trend.
“It’s been huge for (Waskesiu),” Chris said. “It’s grown every year….. It seems like this is the biggest one yet.”
“The last couple of weeks we’ve seen a real turnaround of activity in the park. We believe the fire’s behind us for this year and our business,” Gary added.
“This festival has really made a big turnaround. Hotel rooms are filled right through September long weekend. The other shopkeepers are happy, and it’s just a great big family get together here.”
However, the Waskesiu business community isn’t taking any chances. The local Chamber of Commerce began a new ad campaign in August with plans to run it into September.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
