Alpenfest attendance was steady despite heat, rain

GAYLORD — The 59th version of Alpenfest, Gaylord's annual summer festival, came to a close on July 13.

Ken Mattei, chairman of the Alpenfest board, said early estimates show attendance was either the same or slightly higher than last year's event.

"We did have a day with some rain and Saturday (July 13) was hot and humid. So we saw a little decline in attendance late in the afternoon," said Mattei.

The entertainment for this year's festival drew impressive crowds, according to Mattei.

"The Rolling Stones (tribute) band did well and the Tuesday night performance by 'Nameless' drew in more people than we usually get for that night," he said.

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The Queen's pageant was observed by a large crowd under the pavilion.

"We had a lot more participants in the Alpenfest Walking Parade this year. It was on television and we hope to see that again next year," added Mattei.

He said most of the crafters who rented space along the Alpenstrasse intend to come back for next year's festival.

"They want bigger booths and I don't know where I am going to put them," said Mattei.

Mattei said the artist Daniel Duncan from Duncan Studios drew a panting of Rosco the Clown. Children came to the art tent and also helped on the portrait.

"We wanted to honor Rosco for his many years of service and we presented it to him on Saturday night. I think he was especially pleased that the children helped out on the painting," he said.

Mattei said they sold out of Alpenfest pins.

"We were completely sold out of pins on Friday. Typical we usually have some leftover pins. We had to sell some of last year's pins and those folks will be able to come back in a few weeks to exchange those pins for this year's version," he said.

"I am getting a lot of positive comments about the festival. People are saying it was one of the best in a long time," added Mattei.

— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com .

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Alpenfest attendance was steady despite heat, rain