"One of the best festivals yet", Organizers very pleased with Summer in the City 2024

The Festival Coordinator for Summer in the City says this last weekend was fantastic. 

Heading into the weekend, Carla Campbell says they were nervous about the forecast, but the weather cooperated nicely.  

“It was a beautiful weekend. There was just that little bit of rain, but it didn't seem to faze anyone. We had great turn out, great crowds on the street, everyone seemed to do well in the areas that they were coordinating, they said they all had good turnout, and there was lots of great energy on the street. That was one of the best festivals yet is what I'm hearing.” 

It’s hard to nail down just how many people show up, but based on feedback from the vendors and the various wings of the festival, Campbell says they know that the community showed up in a big way. 

“Because all the activities on the street are open to the public, a completely free festival, courtesy of all of our sponsors and the city support and grants that we receive, we don't actually count the people that are on the street and enjoying everything.” 

Campbell says there were events and activities for the whole family

What they do know is that there were over 40 places to eat this year, and over 100 vendors which is more than ever.  

In addition, Campbell says they do keep track of ticket sales for the main stage headliners. Though they didn't hit capacity, she notes approximately 75 per cent of the tickets were sold, which they were pleased with. 

Campbell says it was great to see so many returning events and stations at Summer in the City and it was also fun to see a whole bunch of new ones. 

“I just really appreciate the people who took a chance and came out and did something new with us this year.” 

As examples, Campbell highlights the market that took place on Saturday run by The Stand Market and Events, Race in the City put on by Puzzler Escape Room, and the pickleball tournament hosted by The Pat Porter Active Living Centre. 

“We have all these different pockets of activity that were new this year and people seem to be enjoying them all over the place, it was just so welcomed by our festival attendees."

Campbell says the mainstage shows were at approximately 75 per cent capacity though some rain on Saturday night scared a few people away

All in all, Campbell says Summer in the City 2024 was a huge success. She notes it’s now time to take a breath and start planning for next year. 

“As festival coordinator, I'm taking a look at the notes that I made throughout the weekend, my biggest concern is flow for setup and clean up. I'm making sure that we can do it even better next year because we've got a bunch of volunteers that come out to help us with that, so I like to make those transitions as smooth as possible so they want to come back following year.” 

If you happened to miss the festival or you just want to relive Summer in the City, check out our extensive photos gallery that was updated throughout the weekend.