This year's Festival of Friends was 'best year so far' in 48-year history, organizer says

The Festival of Friends welcomed thousands of people to Gage Park in Hamilton over the August long weekend, with organizers calling itthe "best" festivalin their near 50-year history.

The Festival of Friends is an outdoor music, art, and crafts festival that has been held annually since 1976.

Robert Rakoczy, general manager of Festival of Friends, said the festival has been growing every year since COVID, with 2024 being the "best year" so far.

"This year exceeded our expectations, the crowds are incredible," he told CBC Hamilton, saying tens of thousands attended.

Rakoczy said this year also saw the most vendors at the festival 125, including 40 different food vendors.

"There has never been so many people and so many vendors and so many things to do and see at the park," he said.

Here are some photos taken on Sunday, the final day of the festival:

Rakoczy summed up the Festival of Friends as "Hamilton's iconic cultural event," adding that "at 48 years old, it is the biggest free, annual music festival in Canada." He said the festival has more vendors than any other event in Canada except the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE).

The 2024 lineup of performers included:

• David Wilcox.
• Monte Carlo Band.
• Chris Chambers Band.
• Sabian.
• Joshua Pascua.
• Crash Test Dummies.
• Pip the Band.
• Blood Roses.
• Doctor Tongue.
• The Wild High.

The Village People, whose Y.M.C.A. is a beloved bop played at numerous events, performed on Saturday night.

Rakoczy said their performance was unforgettable.

"I went home last night, I should go to sleep, and my girlfriend and I, we watched two hours of every social media post of somebody doing some version of the Y.M.C.A. just to see it this was awesome. What a night," he said.

'This is the place to come'

Bible Bill says hehas been attending the festival for as long as he canremember.

"This is my party, this is the place to come," he told CBC News.

"Every time they bring in great bands...The concerts are always fabulous and most of them are all Canadian stars. I was here for David Wilcox, I was here for Crash Test Dummies, but I enjoyed the other bands around it as well."

His personal rating for the 2024 festival "this one is up there in the 10s."

Meanwhile, Rakoczyis not ready to disclose anything, but he said there are already some ideas for the 50th staging ofFestival of Friends.

"We are stronger than ever and we're always looking for support from the community. The more money we have, the more we can do, the more concerts that we can do, the more we can appeal to other groups. But the festival is going to be around for another 50 years," Rakoczy said.