The Squamish Valley Music Festival made sweet music at local businesses' tills.
Hotel rooms and campgrounds were fully booked before the tunes kicked off on Thursday (Aug. 8), said Elliot Moses, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce's manager.
"On the economic side it seemed to be great for everybody involved," he said.
Private liquor stores set record sales on Thursday, which were subsequently broken Friday and Saturday. Restaurants dealt with lineups and Tim Hortons was buzzing the entire festival, Moses said.
Scotties Liquor Store ran out of ice by Friday, store employee James Greville said. He estimated business increased by two-thirds over the course of the three days.
Since its beginning, the festival has brought more than $1.5 million worth of economic impact to Squamish, the event's executive producer Paul Runnals told The Chief last year. He anticipated this year's event would draw $1 million worth of outside money to town. The District of Squamish and festival organizers are tallying the final haul.
Besides the festival's direct impacts there are spinoffs, including introducing visitors to the area's amenities, Squamish Mayor Rob Kirkham said.
Last year 35 per cent of the event's website traffic was from outside of B.C. Its pre-event media promotion is valued at approximately $750,000, with its backers, Live Nation and brand.Live, aiming to make the festival a landmark event on the summer tour circuit.
Runnals hopes to work on co-promotion with organizers of Whistler's mountain biking Crankworx, which draws thousands of people to the resort on the same weekend. Crankworx's activities run throughout the day. Runnals wants to attract that crowd south at night.
"We would really like to see more action from the north," Runnals said and noted this year's transit service from Whistler and Vancouver was well received.
Only days after the stage was packed away, Haley Anderson is counting down the hours to next year's festival.
"Me and my friends are dealing with Squamish Valley Music Festival withdrawls," the 13-year-old said.
Although Squamish is packed with sports, there aren't a lot of other activities for teenagers, Anderson said.
"It was really fun. There is a lot of music playing and you just get into it," Anderson said.
