OLD TOWN BLUESFEST BREAKS ALL RECORDS
LANSING, Mich. (September 24, 2007) - The Old Town Business & Art Development Association, producer of the Old Town BluesFest, announces that this weekend's festival broke all records for attendance and interest.
"We had record attendance at the JazzFest in August - 15,000 plus," said Terry Terry, association president. "The BluesFest beat that by 20-25%."
Business owners in Old Town agree. "We had a line out the door both nights for coffee and we met a lot of nice, interesting people," said Cecilia Garcia, owner of Mama Bear's Cafe - a new Old Town restaurant serving only organic, fair trade foods.
Ange Ledesma of the Unicorn Tavern, where one of the festival bands was performing all weekend, had the same experience. "We literally had people walking in passing people walking out. It was standing room only both nights."
"Everybody was in good spirits and seemed to be having a good time," noted Chris Voilore of Fish Ladder Tattoo Company, another new Old Town business.
Garcia saw changes in business immediately. "There were a lot of people who hadn't been here since last BluesFest who said they couldn't believe the changes here."
"A lot of people were right back on Sunday."
"After this kind of enthusiasm, we're looking into expanding the festival for next year," said Terry.