Country Thunder venues offer free and discounted tickets to disappointed fans
After Country Thunder Alberta cancelled two days before the festival, Ranchman's and Mugs Pub are stepping up with live music and wrestling shows for ticket holders.
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Country Thunder Alberta's last-minute cancellation left thousands of ticket holders scrambling, but two Calgary venues are offering alternatives.
Ranchman's Cookhouse & Dancehall is giving free entry Friday night to Country Thunder ticket holders to see live music from Brandon Lorenzo. The restaurant also booked Cooper Alan, who was originally scheduled to perform at Country Thunder, for a last-minute Saturday show. Tickets for Alan's performance cost $25 online.
Mugs Pub in the Beltline is taking a different approach. The bar is offering a free ticket to a wrestling competition hosted by CanAm Wrestling for every Country Thunder ticket purchase. The wrestling event runs from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the pub's parking lot, with tickets costing $25. The Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis has given permission to waive age restrictions at the pub during the competition.
The festival cancelled two days before its scheduled start, citing active construction around the festival site and "restrictive sound limitations" imposed by the city. But the city contested those claims — Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the recent noise bylaw requiring outdoor events to end by midnight did not apply to Country Thunder, whose show was scheduled to end by 11 p.m. The festival's spokesperson also stated in a news article that the noise bylaw wasn't a concern just two days before the cancellation.
Gondek suggested the real reasons were different: fewer ticket sales and heavy rain forecasted for the weekend. As recently as Tuesday, Country Thunder had been sending promotional offers to subscribers, offering $100 free cash to spend on food, drinks and merchandise if they bought 10 single-day general admission tickets.