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Rain can’t dampen spirits at folk festival finale
Nathan Taylor, Courney Whalen
Local News - Monday, July 09, 2007 Updated @ 1:07:27 AM
Gordon Lightfoot came Sunday night and so did the rain.
But the torrential downpour could not diminish what organizers say was the Mariposa Folk Festival’s most successful event, ever.
As Lightfoot prepared to take the stage to conclude this year's festival, the skies opened up. Despite thunder, lightning and increasing rain, Lightfoot stayed on stage and the majority of the crowd, estimated by festival chair Chris Lusty, to be around 8,000, stayed as well. “We’ve got a job to do and we’re going to do it,” Lightfoot told the sodden crowd to loud applause.
The thunder and lightning made a fitting backdrop to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and the crowd erupted when Lightfoot sang “If You Could Read My Mind.” Shouts of “We love you Gordie” could be heard along with “We’ll get soaked for you Gordie.”
Rumours of an appearance by Bob Dylan proved false, although Lusty said organizers heard a limo pulled up to the front gate and then left.
With the rain coming down harder, the crowd got to its feet and Lightfoot finally left the stage to chants of “Gordie, Gordie” before fans finally, reluctantly made their way to the parking lot.
With water running off her plastic poncho in rivers, Agnes Bleiwas wasn’t sorry she stayed. “Absolutely this will be a memorable concert,” said the Toronto woman. “I’m a longtime Lightfoot fan and a longtime Mariposa fan.”
Despite Dylan not appearing, and the rain, Lusty said it was a fitting end to a successful weekend.
“The crowd, they didn’t move when Gord finally left the stage; the amount of people that were still there ... amazing,” he said. “And the courage the man showed. He wasn’t going to let his Orillia down.”
If early estimates are any indication, the 2007 festival was the most well-attended yet.
“So far, (attendance is) probably 20 per cent greater than our best ever (2005) in this town,” said Lusty.
Lusty estimated 20,000 people passed through the gates between Friday and Sunday.
Records were broken in numerous areas at the 46th festival, he said, including Friday night at the main stage, where performers included Hawksley Workman, Serena Ryder and The Sadies.
“The kids were really digging them,” Lusty said.
The Friday bill, aimed more toward those in their late teens to mid-20s, drew a huge crowd. It showed in the numbers, as more than 400 passes for 16- to 24-year-olds were sold this year, compared to 30 in the first year.
The Folkplay area was also an unprecedented success.
“We’ve got more little kids here than we ever have,” Lusty said, noting volunteers ran out of passports for the kids stations on Friday. “Basically, we’re bursting at the seams, which is great.”
At an onsite board meeting yesterday afternoon, there was nothing but good news reported from all parties, and positive feedback from the performers.
“Performers like this place. They get treated beautifully at Mariposa,” he said, adding, with a laugh, their were “no prima donnas.”
Although speculation over the past few weeks of an appearance by Bob Dylan led to hype at the festival, Lusty said he, like everyone else, just waited and wondered.
The hype, which turned out to be unfounded, didn't hurt the festival.
“Next year, maybe we’ll spread a rumour that Joan Baez is coming, or maybe Neil Young,” he said.
There was at least one unscheduled star who made his way into the festival. Greg Keelor, a guitarist and songwriter with Blue Rodeo, stopped by Sunday evening.
Planning for the ’08 festival begins immediately. The first board meeting is next month, but hotel booking starts tomorrow, Lusty said.
People are encouraged to buy early-bird tickets for next year’s festival, as the prices are cheaper. Traditionally, Lusty said, 20 per cent of ticket sales happen at the gate, but more people are buying them earlier.
“You’re a putz if you don’t buy an early-bird ticket for next year,” he concluded.
If you want to see the photo that went along with the article, just Google Orillia Newspaper.
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