It may have been “the best festival ever” to many who attended, but last year’s Roots and Blues Festival suffered a $100,000 loss.
“We were down by about 1,000 tickets, so there’s your $100,000 right there,” says Salmon Arm Folk Music Society vice-chair Bernd Hermanski. “It’s a concern for sure, but we find that our financial performance varies a bit; some years we do so well, other years we don’t do so well.”
And while the society has a reserve fund and can withstand last year’s loss, two or three losses in a row would be deadly for the popular festival that hits the milestone 20th year in August.
Hermanski says festivals all over North America were down last year and, in the case of Roots and Blues, board members agree the two deciding factors in last year’s setback were the economy and competition from other events which have sprung up, including Sturgis North.
The long, wet spring and early summer weather might also have been a factor.
Other speculation includes the absence of stand-out headliners on last year’s slate.
Hermanski concedes that other than Taj Mahal, the Arkells, Jonny Lang and a few others, none of the performers were “household” names.
“Not like Neil Young; everybody in the world knows who he is by now,” he says, noting some potential festivalgoers are not prepared to gamble on names they don’t recognize. “But, as the final product proved, the weekend was fantastic.”
Hermanski says many festivalgoers approached board members to tell them that, in every way, the 2011 festival was the best they had ever attended. He’s hoping they will share their opinions with others, and not only show up themselves this year, but bring a couple of friends along with them.
Artistic director Hugo Rampen is adding to this year’s 20th celebration at a screaming pace. Booked so far are Robert Randolph and the Travelling Band, James “Super Chikan” Johnson and the Fighting Cocks, Jayme Stone, Shred Kelly, Cuff the Duke, the Beaton Sisters and last year’s wildly popular Five Alarm Funk.
“We’ve been busy since September; we have offers and contracts going out daily,” he says. “I am waiting on 10 offers that have gone out and am in the middle of processing another two. We’re just always going.”
“It’s not often we bring people back three years in a row, but they were so good and they really enjoyed themselves,” Hermanski adds, pointing out he chatted with popular children’s entertainer Fred Penner during his 2010 visit. “He said, ‘you know, I’ve been to hundreds of festivals and a lot of them do one or two things really well, but this festival does it all well.’”
And that’s what organizers are planning to do again this year. While there are lots of reasons to be optimistic, Hermanski says organizers are being careful with their budget and will focus on those things that have been well-liked and successful.
New last year and popular with all ages, Routes and Blues will be on the road again this year, mostly the same but with a bit of tweaking.
“I went to two of the six they were great,” says Hermanski. “Apparently, the one that happened up at Seymour Arm with Alpha Yaya Diallo was considered to be the best thing ever happened there.”
The annual WOW performance in Marine Park will also be on this year’s slate, as will the houseboat that takes performers to several Shuswap Lake beaches.
Downtown performances are not likely to take place as last year’s concert in Fletcher Park cost the society $10,000 and drew a very small audience.
Helping organizers focus on what they do best will be two Dutch university students.
“We’re hoping they’ll be as enthusiastic and capable as Evo (Kestens) was,” he says, noting Kestens attends a university that has a strong events management program and encouraged two of last year’s classmates to come to Salmon Arm.
Meanwhile, the board remains much the same as last year, following the society’s Jan. 18 AGM.
Louise Wallace Richmond has left the board with Tracy Nash filling in the vacancy. Lody Kieken is chair and Diane Jewell is secretary. Other board members include Valorie Ellis-Peet, Doug Hearn, Larry Keats, Ian McDiarmid, Brook Roberts, Leah Shaw, Ted Crouch and Jacqueline Kral.
