GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, N.L. — Weak numbers for Salmon Festival’s Saturday night concert have some residents publicly complaining about the organization of the annual shindig.
Although official numbers are not available, less than 1,300 tickets were sold for the July 14 main event, headlined by Juno Award-winning Canadian country mainstay Emerson Drive.
“The Saturday concert never had the numbers we were counting on, but still was a great show,” said Shawn Feener, town councillor and chair of the Salmon Festival committee.
Conditions could not have been much better. It was a sunny and warm summer afternoon for a solid lineup that included The Punters, Kellie Loder, The 8 Track Favourites, Rod Jackson & The Perfect Strangers and Aaron Pritchett, in addition to the headline act.
Early bird tickets were $49.50, going up to $59.50 a couple of weeks prior to the festival and $69.50 at the gate.
Tough times
Deputy mayor Mike Browne suggested economic conditions may have been the main reason people stayed away.
“The economy is not that strong here in central Newfoundland right now, and even across the island,” he said. “There’s some uncertainty with respect to what the future might bring and people are probably minding their money a little bit more than they would in past summers.”
Overall, though, council was satisfied with the weekend-long event, Browne said.
“We were pleased in general with this year’s salmon festival,” he said. “We sold out our salmon dinner (July 12), we had a fantastic crowd at the gospel concert (July 15), Grand Falls-Windsor Day (July 16) was well-received throughout the community and very well-attended. The only thing we were really disappointed in were the number of people who bought tickets for our major concert.”
Still, for many, it is the Saturday concert that defines the festival.
Letter sent to council
At least one lifelong Grand Falls-Windsor resident took it upon himself to write a letter to town council and then posted it on Facebook setting off a flurry of social media activity.
Robert Bursey has worked for TRA in Grand Falls-Windsor for 26 years and writes for the online heavy metal magazine Metal-Rules.
“This year to me showed total lack of knowledge and what sells,” he wrote. “Yes, country does sell but there has to be a ‘wow’ factor. A no-name Canadian act will not draw people to the town, no matter the genre.”
Bursey wants to see a return to what he referred to as “the glory years.”
From 2011 through 2013, headliners KISS, Aerosmith and The Eagles drew 18,000, 16,000 and 21,000 attendees, respectively, and the town made money.
Then 2014 rolled around and despite a marquee headliner, Maroon 5 — a band that had two Top-10 hits that year — only 8,500 people attended, resulting in a loss for the town of more than $475,000.
The next year, 2015, was even more disastrous when John Fogerty played for just 6,200 and the town lost $667,000.
At the time, town officials cited competition from other big music events on the island, namely the Confederation Hill Music Festival in St. Johns on the same weekend, but the era of Exploits Valley Salmon Festival mega-concerts was done. The town cut ties with the promoter, SRO Entertainment, and opted for a scaled-back version of the concert.
Bursey thinks the town should go back to big-name rock shows and, judging from social media response, he is not alone.
“I think if done right they could continue to be a success,” he said. “Hire the promoter and let them do what they do and it will be successful. You have the right name and people will go. There has to be a wow factor.”
Council open to input
Browne did not rule out the possibility.
“After the last few years, I don’t think there’ll be much of an appetite for it, but we will have a look at it,” he said, noting 2018 was the first year the festival opted for an all-country format.
“We will certainly reassess what genre of music we’re going to have here for next year’s salmon festival. We will reassess how much money we invest into the major concert, that’s something we’ll certainly need to sit down and talk about, but the focus of council will be to see what we need to do to draw more people.”
The lineup was not the only problem, according to Bursey.
“This year there appeared to be little PR done for it,” he said. “I hardly heard a word about it outside the initial press release announcing the acts.”
Bursey would also like to see some other tweaks such as an after-party Saturday night, a return of Newfie Night, a teen dance and, perhaps, a classical or jazz concert to be inclusive of as many demographic groups as possible.
Bursey will get a chance to air his ideas officially when he meets with Browne and Mayor Barry Manuel, something he has done before and said produced positive results.
“Certainly, Robert has some good ideas,” Browne said. “We’ll certainly look at Robert’s ideas. There won’t be any stones left unturned with where we go from here on the salmon festival.”
Although the event may evolve, one thing is certain; Browne said, it is an important tradition for Grand Falls-Windsor and central Newfoundland.
“We’re really proud of the Salmon Festival,” he said. “We’ve had some really good years, we’ve had some really bad years. We’re not sure right now where this particular one will end up financially, but the salmon festival will go on.”
He also had an invitation for the public.
“Council is wide open to people visiting or calling and presenting ideas and if there’s anybody else out there like Robert, who’s got some good ideas on how to move forward with the festival; we welcome it at any time.”
Related:
Salmon Fest in the books for another year in Grand Falls-Windsor
Salmon Fest a success, according to Grand Falls-Windsor mayor (2017)
