An exciting cauldron of electronic, folk, reggae, jazz, dance and Island music was on tap at the Coombs Rodeo Grounds over the weekend and those who pitched their tents for the second annual Kulth Festival are raving about the great music and the overall experience at the event.
Organizers are also pleased with how the weekend went and David Fisher agreed the bands and the fans were great.
“We had a 99 per cent approval rating from the fans,” he said.
Fisher said although there were a few noise complaints from some of the campers who were next door at the Coombs Country Campground, the event for the most part went smoothly and he feels it is a great asset for the community because of the economic spin off it creates for the local area.
“There were 30 businesses involved in the show that were local. The Frontiersman Pub was happy because they got lots of business from us and the cab companies were busy,” he claimed.
Nancy Nedokus who operates the campground beside the site said some of her guests were not happy about the noise but she said they were warned ahead of time about the music festival and she agreed that anytime there is an event at the rodeo grounds they have to bite the bullet and live with it.
“We don’t live in a bubble,” she admitted.
Fisher said they made a point of structuring the site so there would be no problems and they also made an effort to deal with the noise issues but agreed it is hard to control the festival campers who are there to have fun well into the night.
“People come to a festival to have a good time and people having fun makes noise. Renting the whole Coombs Country Campground could be a good solution,” he declared.
Organizers were really impressed with how respectful festival patrons were towards the grounds. When the campers checked in they were handed a bio bag for their food waste and garbage bags and at the end of the weekend the site was not a big mess.
“People put everything into the right slots. I have been doing this for a long time and now people are catching on more. We gave them the opportunity and they were really great.”
Sarah Oliver who was also part of the organizing team said there were a lot of families who attended and enjoyed the atmosphere.
“The family vibe was awesome. There were a lot of kids and parents said they felt comfortable with letting their kids feel free to roam around,” she stated.
As for the music, Oliver said it was excellent.
“Our talent was great. There were a lot of up and coming bands and people were blown away by them.”
She said the fact that the rain held off was a bonus because the 2011 Kulth Festival was a rather wet affair.
“The weather cooperated and I would say there was four times as many people compared to last year.”
She said the festival definitely has room to grow and they look forward to tweaking it and making it even better for next year.