Sommo Festival hopes to keep dancin' in September
Festival's Friday night crowd surpasses CBMF's single-day attendance in July
Organizers are hoping to keep the Sommo Festival in September following a successful second year for the music and culinary showcase in Cavendish, P.E.I.
Taylor Jack, director of operations for the festival, said about 20,000 people were in attendance Friday night, more than the Cavendish Beach Music Festival drew in a single day in July. More than 16,000 tickets were sold for Saturday.
"We want to try to keep it around September," Jack said. "We want to work with the municipality. We want to work with the retail people, you know, the cottage owners, everybody. I think continuing a season longer than we can works."
Last year, the Sommo Festival was held in July on the heels of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival, which has been staged for 15 years.
Jack said other than traffic — some were saying it took about two hours to exit the area — the festival went smoothly this weekend.
"I think everybody who came in was having a great time. You know, a few lines here and there, but nobody's upset about it. Everybody's smiling. I think overall the weather was fantastic.… No one's complaining."
There were more than 30 acts over the two days, including headliners Noah Kahan on Friday and Greta van Fleet on Saturday.
"It was a really fun time," said Emily Globe, who went both days. "We were right up in the front for most of the night. Good crowd, good music."
RCMP said there were seven people arrested for impaired driving in connection with the festival over the weekend and five others were charged with liquor offences. Police said traffic cleared in just over an hour Saturday night, compared with more than two hours after the Friday concert.
With files from Stacey Janzer