Overall, Uptowne Olds Committee chair Leon Durand is pretty pleased with how this year's edition of Summer Oldstice went.
The annual combination of attractions, vendors and sidewalk sales, took place past Saturday, June 16, in Uptowne Olds.
Durand is especially grateful that generally, the rain predicted for that day held off.
"I think that was probably the biggest thing. We did fear the worst when they told us it was going to rain all day," he said during an interview with the Albertan.
Durand said some vendors chose not to participate, due to the forecast. But most hung in there, and were rewarded for it as people came by to check them out.
"Obviously weather has the biggest impact on an outdoor event. It doesn't matter what the outdoor event is in Alberta, weather is definitely an impact," he said. "But actually overall, I'm very happy with it. We had some good response."
Durand noted this year's Summer Oldstice featured a few new wrinkles.
One was the beer gardens. A play about Olds history, written by local playwright Mary Hays and starring local actors, was also a big hit.
This year, a small fee was levied for the pancake breakfast but that didn't seem to be an issue.
"The pancake breakfast went over well," Durand said.
"We'll be looking at how we can fine-tune it next year. We have a couple of things up our sleeve next year to make it even better," he added.
Durand said the beer garden will likely not only return next year, but also be larger, if that can be arranged.
He said Oldstice organizers also have another idea for something new next year.
"I can't comment on it because it's still in the works. But if that happens, we'll have another addition to the event that'll (get) quite a few more people involved," he said.
This year's Summer Oldstice coincided with a horseshoe tournament that attracted competitors from as far away as Fort St. John, B.C. and Faith Fest, a gospel music concert held all afternoon and into the evening at the Cow Palace.
Durand would like to see organizers of those two events work more closely with Summer Oldstice organizers so that all three events can be cross promoted with each other.
"We can do some cross promoting and make Olds Summer Oldstice an even larger event with more things happening that people can check into," he said.
Durand said Oldstice organizers will meet June 27 to assess this year's event and discuss what improvements can be made for next year.
"It's an ongoing process, obviously,' he said. "You learn from what worked and what didn't work and you say, 'alright, let's tweak that a little bit,' and it'll just get better and better every year."
