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Of all the upgrades done this spring, perhaps the most important was the refurbishing of the bathrooms. Country Thunder Saskatchewan might be an outdoor festival but being able to answer the call of nature in civilized bathrooms is important to the patrons.

“We now have a lot of flushing toilets. With the units we bring in, we’re probably up to a couple hundred flushing toilets, which gives our venue more flushing toilets than any other outdoor festival has,” said Vollhoffer. “We were also concerned with the cleanliness of everything — it was a time for an upgrade so we did it.

“(We knew) the bathrooms needed a serious upgrade so that happened, a full refurbishing in the bathrooms with new toilets, new sinks, new countertops, new paint, new showers and new shower curtains. That’s one of the most commonly asked questions, ‘When are you going to improve the bathroom facilities?’ We’re listening to our fans and the requests and concerns they have.”

Another major change for the festival, which runs July 13-16, is the seating area for the main stage. Previously the area was a mix of dirt, sand, clay and gravel. It worked when the weather was nice but whenever it rained, the area became a bit of a muddy bog.

That shouldn’t be a problem going forward given the work done in the area.

“We excavated the entire site. We basically pitched it like a soccer or football field would be. We had a professional engineer come in and create a drainage process. The area is now super hard underneath so when it does rain, people won’t sink into the grass and there’s drainage to the left and right into cesspools,” Vollhoffer said.