Interstellar Rodeo to offer water and shade for festival-goers

Music lovers gearing up for the first-ever Interstellar Rodeo in Winnipeg this weekend are being encouraged to come prepared so they can be cool and hydrated as temperatures stay above 30 C over the next couple days.

Organizers of the music festival, taking place at The Forks downtown, say they'll be prepared for the heat, too.

"We've made umbrellas, a picnic table area. We have shade tents, we have free water stations," said Shauna de Cartier of Six Shooter Records, which is producing the festival.

"We give away sunscreen at our information tent. We'll be walking around with spray bottles, spraying people down."

Sarah McLachlan, Steve Earle, Vance Joy and Blue Rodeo are just some of the performers who'll be at the festival, which begins Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday.

"What are we going to do if it rains, or what if there's a thunderstorm, or what if it's super windy? And those are more of the safety things that, you know, as organizers we prepare for, so this kind of heat, we're prepared for that too," de Cartier said.

She encourages festival-goers to bring their own hats, umbrellas, sunscreen and refillable water bottles so they can stay hydrated.

CBC meteorologist John Sauder is calling for hot and breezy conditions in the city on Friday and Saturday. A heat warning is expected to remain in effect on Friday, with a high of 32 C.

However, the weather is expected to cool down later in the weekend as a cold front moves through the province on Saturday.

Daytime highs are expected to reach 30 C on Saturday but 21 C on Sunday.