Riverfest organizers estimated Monday that the annual three-day festival in downtown Little Rock attracted 225,000 people this year — about 10,000 fewer than last year.
Kelley Bass, a festival spokesman, attributed the estimated drop in attendance to forecasts for a day-long deluge of rain and thunderstorms, and a change this year in how advance tickets were purchased.
“We had a lot more of a threat of rain yesterday than we had rain,” he said, noting that despite the forecasts and the dark clouds that hovered overhead for much of the day, festivalgoers experienced only a seven- to 10-minute downpour in midafternoon. Additional rain held off until 10:45 p.m. — 15 minutes before closing time — so the weather didn’t interfere with the 9 p.m. fireworks display, either.
While tickets were available at the gate, as always, this year advance tickets were available online only, Bass said. He noted that officials expected the change to cause some loss of attendance as people adjust.
Riverfest tickets have never been available online before, and last year were available in advance through local Walgreen’s drug stores. This year, tickets purchased online could be printed out and presented at the gate, or online buyers could simply show their phone, with the proof of purchase, at the gate.
Bass said an official count of attendees hasn’t yet been determined, but despite the obstacles that may have kept people away and led to a “very small percentage” of a reduced turnout, there was a “really good, strong” crowd, which “seemed to have a lot of happy people” in it.
Sgt. Cassandra Davis, spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department, didn’t immediately return a call about the number of police incidents at the festival this year.
Bass said there were “none that we know of,” which he said wasn’t surprising, because the festival has been basically crime-free for several years. He attributed that partially to the presence of police helicopters regularly circling the perimeter of the festival every night.