Events, businesses continue to drive fall tourism on P.E.I.

Though the leaves are colouredand falling, tourism numbers continue to rise particularly in the fall season.

Tourism organizers use festivals andevents like theSummersideBluegrass and Acoustic Music Festivalto entice visitors to P.E.I. in the off season and boost the tourism numbers even higher.

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John Campbell, the chair of the festival, says the Causeway Bay Hotel in Summerside, P.E.I.,is booked solidand expects about 300 people to come and see the 13 bands playing at the event on the weekend.

"There's lots of festivals going on here in the summer time, both on and off Island, so we chose to have it in the fall ... it's the only indoor one on the Island," he said.

"It seems to attract the people that doesn't go to the summer ones, or goes to the summer ones but wants some place to go after this is all over."

'We'll spend as much money as we can'

GregHamilton, a Nova Scotia musician, came over to see the festival, describingP.E.I. as a "real bluegrass hotbed."

We've had lots of tourists throughout September September was very busy and October up to about the third week.Ken Meister

"We've come here to this particular festivalI think the three past years and we go to numerous other ones on P.E.I.there's a number of bluegrass functions that we regularly come to and we enjoy it."

When asked what else he'll be seeing when he's here, Hamilton laughed.

"We'll spend as much money as we can," he joked. "Just a regular fun weekend."

Ice cream available all season long

Ken Meister, owner of Holman's Ice Cream Parlour, said they'd normally be closed by now but they've kept the doors open to give visitors toSummersidemore to see.

"We've had lots of tourists throughout September September was very busy and October up to about the third week," he said.

"We posted on social media that we want to stay open later, we hope that we'll get the support from the community to do that October was an extremely busy month so we promised we'd stay open until mid December."

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