Riverboat Days organizers say successful two weeks welcomed 6,500 people to see the parade and thousands for many other events.
“Riverboat Days was another huge success,” said Brian Downie, city councillor to council.
“We debated for years on crowd estimates of people participating in Riverboat Days so we had the Youth Volunteer Corps using clickers to count crowds and it worked quite well for the parade.”
About 6,500 people were on the curb watching the parade, said Downie.
Between 4,000 to 5,000 people were counted in George Little Park.
About 700 to 800 people watched the Movie in the Park.
“[It] was pretty amazing for something at 10 p.m. and a lot of young families were there, said Downie.
Crowd numbers are used for marketing, said Downie.
“When we’re looking for financial sponsors, we want to be able to tell them, ‘this is the exposure your sponsorship would get,’” he said.
“The crowds we encountered all had a good time.”
The hot weather was good news and maybe not so good news, but organizers are not complaining about it, said Downie.
“The observation was in the parade there was fewer people on the curb and maybe people took advantage of the weather and were at the lake or doing whatever,” said Downie.
And last but certainly not least, the splash park opened unofficially on the first day of Riverboat Days, which was perfect timing with the weather.
“It was a spectacular success, standing room only, literally,” said Downie.
“The facility will be a very nice attraction to recreation in the community.”
The official report on Riverboat Days, written by Andrew Webber, also indicated the Concerts in the Park headline act, 54 40, had a crowd estimate ranging from 3,000 to 4,300 with a possible high of 5,500.
Freestyle Motocross Madness saw approximately 2,500 people total watching the two shows.
Three scheduled events did not take place during Riverboat Days but people can still see them later on: the Tsimshian History presentation at 7-830 p.m. Aug. 17 and Aug. 24 at Heritage Park Museum, and Kitsumkalum Su-Sit-Aatk Anniversary Celebration on Sept. 8 at 4-7 p.m. at Kitsumkalum Hall.
Dragon Boating was cancelled due to high winds but registered participants were invited to participate during a regular evening practice.