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Smaller crowds but no problems at 2014 Salmon Festival

The crowd at this year's Salmon Festival in Grand Falls-Windsor may have been smaller than last year, but people who attended said it was a great show.
A shot of the crowd at the 2014 Slamon Festival in Grand Falls-Windsor in the afternoon. There weren't as many people at the show as last year, but attendees seemed to enjoy the concert. (Lindsay Bird/CBC)

The crowd at this year's Salmon Festival in Grand Falls-Windsor may have been smaller than last year, but people who attended said it was a great show.

Headlining acts Maroon 5 and Pitbull, along with Simple Plan, American Authors and Virginia to Vegas, took the stage Saturday at the annual outdoor concert.

Some people who attended said the problems that plagued last year's festival were nowhere in sight, and just because it was a smaller crowd didn't mean it wasn't as much fun.

"Good music, lots of beers, nice day, yeah, it's a party," said B.J. Wills.

While some people posted negative feedback when the acts were announced in May, others said it was a great way to bring in new bands to the province.

"I think it's good, you know, I do actually think it's good. It's attracting a lot of people still, so you can't complain," said Dylan Hillier.

At the 2013 festival, event organizers ran out of bottled water and attendees complained about lineups to get water as temperatures peaked at 31 C.

This year, organizers arranged a free water re-fill stand, and installed a misting station to help people keep cool.

The unofficial number of people at the show was roughly 8,500.