Northern Lights Festival Boreal 'a big success'

Organizers say last weekend's Northern Lights Festival Boreal was a bigger success than previous years.

They don't have the official attendance numbers yet, but executive director Max Merrifield said he can tell more patrons than usual were at the Bell Park festival venue.

• Northern Lights Festival Boreal woos thousands of music fans

We're still sort of crunching the numbers, but, we can certainly determine that this year's festival, attendance-wise, was on par with or, possibly even, better than our 40th, which was certainly a big record at that time.

Merrifield noted he's proud of the way the event promoted local artists.

We're always trying to do more to expose artists and give them paths to sustain professional careers, he said.

And it was a big success. It was very well received by both industry members and artists.

About 20 industry professionals and bookers from music festivals across the country were invited to meet local performers.

Merrifield added the festival offered a new mentorship program for bands and singers that was designed to pair up industry-savvy musicians with up-and-coming artists.

Festival organizers will use the momentum from last weekend to go forward with plans for a new Oktoberfest celebration this fall.

The tentative date for the event is the first weekend of October.

Organizers are still in the process of confirming a venue and schedule.