Feel-good businesses thriving at Country Thunder

There are two new businesses at Country Thunder Music Festival doing their best to make you feel better.

Lisa and Ken MacMurchy are co-owners of Brewed Awakening, and it’s their first time at the festival in Craven.

“We’re here because the people need coffee, especially after a long night of celebration with the musicians that have showed up to play,” Ken said. “People need a little wake up the next day to get them going.”

The pair have a special vehicle delivering coffee right to your camper door.

“This thing is called an apé cart, and we customized it to turn it into a portable espresso unit,” Ken said. “We can serve espresso on the fly.”

The electric cart runs off battery packs, and it even has a name.

“We like to call her Tiffany because she’s a beautiful Tiffany blue and she’s so pretty,” Lisa said.

Ken and Lisa MacMurchy’s apé cart is named Tiffany, after it’s colour. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

The pair deliver coffee to anyone on the festival grounds.

“The cart will go around the campground and see if anyone who can’t walk or make it main street might want a little more service straight to their campsite,” Lisa said with a laugh.

Lisa said the weekend has been a major success.

“It’s been amazing,” she said. “Everybody is really enjoying having a nice cup of coffee to start their day, or middle of the day having an iced drink to refresh and keep them awake for the nights activities.”

The duo are grateful for all the support.

“As a small, local community business if it wasn’t for everybody who supports us we wouldn’t be here,” Lisa said.

Dr. Laura Stark (second from right) said IV therapy is a great way to heal up to keep the party going at Country Thunder. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

If you need something stronger than a cup of joe to pick you up, Thrive Naturopathic has you covered.

Laura Stark is a naturopathic doctor with Thrive.

“IV therapy is a great way to get hydration, electrolytes, extra vitamins and minerals right into the bloodstream so people feel their best,” Stark said. “It boosts their energy and vitality and allows them to keep on partying.”

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Stark said there are a lot of benefits to naturopathic medicine.

“It really looks at the whole person,” she said. “So we’re diving into optimizing your health right from the roots up. So even if you don’t have a diagnosed health concern we can optimize you.”

She said the process is quick and easy.

“It’s an easy going IV,” she said. “I’m the best poke in town. It barely hurts at all. You sit and drip, it takes about 15 minutes to half an hour and leave feeling your best.”

It’s Thrive’s first time at the festival, but the business has been operating in Regina for the last 13 years.

Stark and her team have been busy all weekend, and festival attendees like Deanna Orpen are loving it.

“I don’t love needles but it’s feeling good,” Orpen said. “You can feel it dripping in your body and it just cools your entire body down and feels so neat.”

Orpen and her friend booked the hydration treatment in advance.

“We knew we would need it,” she said. “We’re here for four days so we made sure it was right in the middle so that we’re reacting to the last two days and proactive for the next two days.”

Deanna Orpen (left) and her friend booked their IV treatments in advance for Country Thunder. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)