SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Folk on the Rocks was a hit this year, according to festival president Ryan Fequet.

Singer Tanika Charles wows the crowd with her soulful brand of blues. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo

While he doesn't have exact figures yet, he said a preliminary calculation of attendance numbers showed they were up a couple hundred from past years. Ticket sale numbers had not been calculated before press time.

"It was awesome," he said.

Fequet said the success is likely due to a more focused approach to selecting and scheduling performers. Last year, Folk organizers surveyed the public - including the volunteers, performers, vendors and sponsors - to find out what worked and didn't during the festival.

"We were a little bit more strategic," he said. "We built the programming and said we want a big name here and a big name here and then different types of music here and here that will complement each other."

This year, Folk will be sending out public surveys again.

"We really want focused feedback," he said. "We're more than happy and encourage people to tell us what they like, what performers they like, what food they like and what stuff they didn't. It helps us adjust and make sure we are satisfying the needs of our patrons."

As Yellowknifer reported last week, the programming focused on diversity, including indigenous artists and gender parity for performers.

"I think there was a different flavour at Folk this year," said Fequet. "We had a different mix. It was two bigger names, where in the past we had some medium to big names."

The festival had more sponsors, too, Fequet added, including Ice Wireless, which provided free Wi-Fi during the weekend. The telecommunications company also sponsored Toronto-based singer-songwriter, Justin Nozuka, who performed on Sunday afternoon.

As part of the sponsorship, on July 13, Nozuka conducted a songwriting workshop for youth at the SideDoor Resource Centre for Youth.

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