The expanded four-week Quality Foods Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition heads into its final weekend with fireworks, Kidfest and the children’s sandcastle competition.
Last weekend was the Big Splash Entertainment weekend which went smoothly, if a bit under-attended, according to organizers. Beach festival event manager Trish Smith said the weather co-operated, the park was full of people and in terms of their efforts everything was well organized and went smoothly, they just didn’t get the crowds at the stage they were hoping for.
Things kicked off in high energy with the Kiltlifters Friday afternoon in the hot sun and Smith admitted in retrospect it was hard to get people out on Friday afternoon as people are finishing tough work weeks and making weekend plans.
They had decided to condense previous years’ ongoing Music in the Park evenings into a single big weekend in the hopes of generating more excitement and creating a more festive atmosphere.
Smith said that while things did go smoothly and there was a lot of great music, they will review the outcome and make decisions earlier in the year for next summer, pointing out they had a short window to pull the three day concert event together for the late addition.
There were 11 acts from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening, with highlights including That 70s Band, Virtual Elvis (Scott MacDonald) and Time Well Wasted, Smith said.
But the biggest surprise for her was The Pony Club, the only band she hadn’t heard before signing them — based on glowing references — and she was pleasantly surprised.
She said it was also funny to see their sound guy for the entire weekend was actually a member of The Pony Club and joined them on stage as the last act of the weekend.
