Festival Fever

Fredericton was the host of the Harvest Jazz and Blues festival last week with musical performances and food stalls being the highlight of the event. Many business owners opened portable food stalls downtown and were greeted by large amounts of customers.

With the Fredericton Harvest Jazz and Blues festivities beginning on Tuesday, businesses have noticed larger crowds with people travelling from around the country coming to the event.

People who have flocked to the city in New Brunswick to see musicians perform throughout the festivals 6-day run meant that many shops in the town had a spike in sales during the week.

Visitors were welcomed by various food stalls that were set up all along Queen street in downtown Fredericton and allowed for many choices that ranged from local coffee shops to wood-fired pizza.

Stef Loukes, who runs the Rabbittown coffee shop at the Garrison night market decided to open up her portable shop on Queen street for the festival.

“It’s been a lot of publicity for me and it’s been amazing to spread the word and introduce people to local produce.”

The Fredericton farmers market, which runs every Saturday had noticed little change in the crowd, especially Alex Landine who works at fruit and vegetable stall and says that he had noticed the change in crowds to be little.

“The weather has been really nice so I think most people are out enjoying the sun.”

Mr. Landine continued to state that his stall hasn’t seen a big rise in sales. “I don’t think our shop has seen a noticeable difference though.”

With the success that The Harvest festival had brought to the city, it has also allowed for portable businesses close to the festivities to thrive and while the Fredericton Farmers market has remained steady, it’s hard to deny that the jazz and blues festival brought fun and excitement to the town.