One of the organizers of Summerfolk 49 says heavy rains over the weekend didn’t stop people from having a good time at the annual festival.
Artistic Director James Keelaghan says while the wet weekend proved difficult at Kelso Beach at Nawash Park in Owen Sound, the community still came out in force in support of the event.
“Musically has been fantastic everything has been great, but we have just been slammed by water like in a way that we haven’t been slammed before. Twice we had to shut down because of lightning, once for an hour, once for about a half an hour,” says Keelaghan.
He says the rain did not stop people from buying tickets to catch the performances.
“Even in the middle of the downpour we were still selling tickets,” says Keelaghan. “We hire quality stuff here, people know when they come here that they are going to get really good music and they are going to get a really good experience, that is what we pride ourselves on.”
Some of the key highlights he pointed out from the weekend included Kalàscima Featuring Andrea Ramolo on the Friday night, Kobo Town, and Youth Discoveries Winner Nora Stephens.
Looking ahead to the 50th year of the event, Keelaghan says they plan to mark the milestone early.
“We have got a whole plan rolling out to celebrate 50th for an entire year. About two weeks after the festival ends here, we are going to start on social media with once a week with a highlight from one of the festivals in the past 50 years,” says Keelaghan. “I think we are going to think really about remembering the people who couldn’t be here for the 50th as well.”