Festival celebrates magical moments, season's success

SANDPOINT — It is hard to tell which was hotter at the Festival of Sandpoint this year — the acts on stage or the weather.

The season ended with two sell-out concerts — Ziggy Marley and Super Saturday — and one near sell-out, with Wynonna coming within 400 tickets of selling out, Festival at Sandpoint Executive Director Dyno Wahl said.

The ’70s music of Super Saturday proved a popular draw for area Baby Boomers and the concert sold out well in advance while the last two tickets to Ziggy Marley sold out at the door.

“We heard good things about every single night,” she said.

While final numbers won’t be known for several more weeks, Wahl said the Festival’s 26th season was a success.

“Things look pretty good here,” she said.

Even though estimated ticket numbers were down about 8 percent, ticket sales were up about 5 percent over last year. And, while down slightly, Wahl said fundraising also exceeded goals.

“Even though the economy is what it is, it shows people value entertainment as a way to spend money,” she added.

Wahl said Festival organizers found area residents stayed closer to home, choosing to attend local attractions and venues such as the Festival at Sandpoint, instead of going away on vacation.

Overall, there were more concerts with more people compared to last year, where only the Lyle Lovett concert sold out. The Grand Finale concert dropped slightly, but Wahl said that is likely due to the intense heat and humidity.

This year’s season “truly had something for everyone,” Wahl said, adding she has heard only a few comments about what was seen by some as erratic behavor by the Marshall Tucker Band’s lead singer as well as dancing at the reggae concert.

Most people, however, were happy with the changes to the reggae concert which opened up the area for dancing, Wahl said.

“Reggae concerts are dance concerts,” she added.

Income sources at the venue increased, Wahl said. Chair rentals were up over last year and bar sales also increased, in some cases substantially from the year before. Bar sales were up 21 percent for the Super Saturday concert and were up substantially for the Ziggy Marley concert as well.

Merchandise sales were down slightly. “Sometimes how people feel about the artwork can affect sales and sometimes the weather can affect sales, where people won’t want a sweatshirt if it’s hot or a T-shirt if it’s cool,” Wahl said.

The Festival lost a few sponsors while a few others decreased the amount they gave. However, the Festival picked up nine new sponsors, which offset those lost, Wahl said.

She expected more people to attend the Smokey Robinson concert, calling it a “quintessential Festival opening night act” and “one of those perfect, perfect shows that you’ll always remember.”

Wahl said special moments at this year’s Festival include:

n Listening to Smokey Robinson and watching the fireworks;

n Fans taking shelter under the grandstands when a fierce thunderstorm blew through during the Brett Dennen and Donavon Frankenreiter concert. The pair would later head to Eichardt’s to jam until 1 a.m. when the storm shut the show down early.

n An osprey soaring over the crowding during the Grand Finale as the Spokane Symphony performed Beethoven’s No. 6 “Pastoral” Symphony — a tribute to the beauty and power of nature.