Salmon Festival trouble won't be repeated in 2014, town says

Concert organizers in Grand Falls-Windsor say the town has taken stock of complaints about last summer's Salmon Festival, and that it hopes to solve them in time for next year's show. 

Even before The Eagles took to the stage in Grand Falls-Windsor, complaints over water shortages and overcrowding began piling in.

Darren Finn, who chairs the town's Salmon Festival committee, said they have spent months talking to everyone involved, and promised changes are on the way.

"We have all of those criticisms and reports, and we'll be looking at them as a new committee and council, certainly with a view to not repeat anything that was perceived as errors," Finn told CBC. 

Officially there were 21,000 tickets sold — a Salmon Festival record — but far less than what the town and promoter admitted were actually on the field on July 13.

Overcrowding was especially an issue in the VIP section, where ticket-buyers said it was unsafe.

Finn said the VIP section may not even exist for 2014's show.

"The layout of the field will certainly be different. Exactly what that is, I don't know, so we have some major decisions to look at," said Finn. 

The town won't say who next year's headliner will be, and will only divulge that the promoter is working on it.