The WayHome Music and Arts Festival has come to a close, but to mixed reviews.
Crews were busy on Monday cleaning up from the three day festival, as the last few concertgoers headed home. About 40,000 people were in attendance this weekend, an increase from last year.
"I think year two for WayHome was a huge success,” says Laura Kennedy, senior director of PR at Republic Live. “Fans had a great time. We've seen wonderful feedback from fans and artists that were here."
It wasn't all positive feedback. Oro-Medonte council set up a community hotline for residents with any issues, and while WayHome organizers say they didn't get any calls about noise at night, the township did.
"They were mainly to do with the sound. Not all of them were concerns,” says Mayor Harry Hughes. “For the entire concert there was approximately 100, but some of those calls were the same person phoning in or the same residents phoning in maybe five or six times.”
Residents who complained about the sound were visited by a bylaw officer and a engineer to calculate the decibels levels. Township council says that data will be available by September, and will decide how council will proceed with future festivals.
The number of people sent to hospital was down this year from 16 to around 10.
"They had physicians and nurses on site too. A lot of the minor things that could be done, and take care of on-site were taken care of on site,” says Paul Muller of County of Simcoe Paramedic Services.
WayHome officials say the campgrounds should be fully cleaned up by Wednesday. After that preparation will begin for the Boots and Hearts Festival, which is set to run from Aug. 4 to the 7.
