Festival Saw High Points, Low Numbers

The official verdict on this year’s Festival at Sandpoint: “It was quite an … interesting … year,” said Connie Berghan, festival director.

Would that be good interesting, or bad interesting? “That,” said Berghan with a laugh, “would be challenging interesting.”

The challenges include cold, wet weather, frustrating highway delays, headliner cancellations and intense competition from other venues.

The result: lower attendance.

Berghan said the official count is still being done, but she already knows the crowds were down, “significantly down.”

The classical concerts, in particular, were not well-attended. The November-like weather hit the classical concerts particularly hard - one concert had to be moved to Sandpoint High School at the last minute when rains ripped the seams of the performance tent.

The weather, combined with the highway delays on both major highways into Sandpoint, made people think twice about attending the festival.

“During that first weekend, we were right on target with our ticket projections,” said Berghan. “But then after that, you could hardly get to Sandpoint, unless you were coming from Montana. It was one of those unexpected market forces we had to struggle with.”

In the pop concert series, the festival also had to cope with: disappearing headliners.

“We had never had a cancellation before, ever,” said Berghan. “And this year we had two on the same weekend.”

Those cancellations - Loretta Lynn and Lucky Dube - cut deeply into attendance. After Lynn canceled, her replacement act, sister Crystal Gayle, attracted only 950 people.

However, the season also had its high points. The highest point may have come on the very first day - July 27 - with the Beach Boys, which attracted the biggest crowd of the entire festival, about 3,850 paid ticketholders (probably about 4,500 total attendance).

Natalie Cole also came through strongly, attracting 3,070 paid (4,000 total) despite chilly weather. Those were the two biggest names at the festival; the numbers drop sharply after that. However, Alison Krauss and Union Station were a surprisingly good draw, drawing 1,570 paid (about 2,000 total).

In terms of just plain memorable moments, the festival was well-stocked. For Berghan, the highlights included the “Journey Into Jazz” symphonic concert with its remarkable collaborations, the Natalie Cole concert with its romantic mood, and the Beach Boys for a bouncing good time.

“There were a lot of three-generation families there, which was really fun,” said Berghan.

The festival has not yet chosen a new site; Berghan said it will almost certainly return to Memorial Field for one last year.

Here’s hoping for fewer “challenges” in 1996.

, DataTimes