Summer in the City numbers down for 2024

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This article was published 21/06/2024 (313 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Summer in the City had slightly lower numbers this year than last year, but with new offerings the festival was a success.

Board chair Audrey Harder estimated that attendance this year was about 30,000, which is about 5,000 less than last year. She said last year there were more line-ups but fewer rides and less vendors compared to this year. She also noted that 800 tickets were sold this year for the concerts compared to last year’s 1,200. As for how many tickets were sold for the rides, organizers won’t know until next week. Harder surmised that the reason for lower numbers this year might have to do with the weather, which saw rain and high temperatures over the weekend.

But she said this was the “best most organized year” for the festival, especially since COVID. There were more vendors, the cultural area was well attended, the kids area was always packed, the first Saturday market was well attended, and the addition of the Amazing Race saw 49 teams compete.

“The only thing we couldn’t control was the weather. But the weather didn’t bring anyone down. We still found a way to have fun and find something to do there. It was a really amazing experience this year. The longer we do it the better we get at it on our end,” she said.

So what do organizers have planned for next year? Harder said they are looking at adding more new things to the festival and re-organizing the layout to make it flow smoother. She also said the board might look at expanding the space for the car show which ran from Friesen to Brandt.

“It’s mostly the placement of areas that we’re looking at and because we spent the last year trying to develop actual positions because it’s all volunteer run and sometimes the volunteers know the job better. So we’ve been working really hard to create the descriptions for the positions so that each person knows exactly what to do and they can pass that along if they ever choose to leave us, hopefully they don’t because they keep coming back every year, and that’s part of why we keep getting better because of our volunteers.”

Harder added she’s thankful for the sponsors, volunteers, and visitors who supported Summer in the City.