This Chappell Roan song boosted interest in a Canadian dark sky preserve by 1,800%

One of Saskatchewan’s dark-sky preserves is eager to receive tourists after indie-pop singer Chappell Roan mentioned the Canadian province in a song.

Roan’s “The Subway” debuted at Billboard No. 3 after its July 31 release. The song portrays a character so frustrated with urban reminders of a breakup that their solution is to “f—- this city; I’m moving to Saskatchewan.”

After the song’s release, interactions with Tourism Saskatchewan’s social media accounts soared 1,800% practically overnight, the prairie province’s organization told Canada’s The Globe and Mail. And Saskatchewan’s Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park hopes to capitalize on this opportunity thanks to a well-known single that Roan once called a “campy, gay-girl song”: “Red Wine Supernova.”

The success of “The Subway” fell just days before the annual Saskatchewan Summer Star Party, which takes place this year at Cyprus Hills from Aug. 20 to 24. It’s a peak moment for both the dark-sky observatory and dark-sky campground on site to welcome tourists, as part of a summer-long series of public programs and astronomy events.

The star party is “one of the largest gatherings of amateur astronomers in southwest Saskatchewan,” Patricia Armstrong, director of partnerships and administration for the Cypress Hills destination area, told Space.com by e-mail.

Beginners’ astrophotography, a “star walk” and kids’ programming will all be available, as well as a taste of student science: Representatives from the University of Saskatchewan’s RADSAT-SK2 CubeSat will be on site to explain the radiation and Earth-imaging studies the mission performed after launch in 2023.

Armstrong added she couldn’t believe Roan mentioned Saskatchewan, which only has about a million people living across a vast area roughly the size of Texas: “Who’d thunk it?” Given the short tourism season in Saskatchewan, officials are hoping to capitalize on the surge event for next year.

Wine and supernova lovers can pair their Cyprus Hills visit with a bottle of either haskap, cherry or rhubarb, available at the nearby Cypress Hills Winery, Armstrong suggested. Tourism Saskatchewan has also created a destination list based on Roan’s music; they stated the character in “The Subway” may like the remoteness of Grasslands National Park, for example, “to escape the chaos and noise of urban life.”

Roan has never performed in Saskatchewan, but she promised to come by soon. “I can’t wait to go,” Roan said in a recent interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music. “I also just love that the capital is called Regina,” added the LGBTQ+ performer, who has featured drag queens as openers to her concerts.

“With incredible exposure like this worldwide, it’s certainly the talk of the province,” Armstrong added of Roan’s song, adding she expects travelers “will definitely find things they never expected in Saskatchewan.”