North Bay showed it was ready to party at the inaugural Bay Block Party Saturday.
“It is something we have been doing for three years now, but we rebranded this year to the Bay Block Party. We were previously known as Rocktoberfest and that operated in the fall” explained committee chair Ryan Humble.
The downtown event was hosted by the North Bay Real Estate Board.
New this year, the Downtown Improvement Area got on board by organizing a Food Fest to compliment the event.
One of the food vendors, Laxmi Komwar runs Northern Himalayan Cafe at the Jack Garland Airport.
“We have been very busy, and we are enjoying it very much. We are selling cuisine from Nepal and some Japanese food also,” said Komwar.
“I am finding people are interested in trying different kinds of cultural food, a different kind of flavour. We had people trying things today who had never had our kind of food. It is nice to see people who are open to trying so many kinds of food. We would love to be part of this again.”
In addition to food, events for the kids, vendors and craft breweries, distilleries and wineries, partygoers enjoyed live entertainment from a lineup of 10 bands including the headliner, Juno award winners The Dirty Nil.
In the afternoon, Liz Teft stood near the stage listening to Terrorbirds, a local band.
“I’m enjoying this so much. It is great that you can have all these bands. There is some great local music here.”
Allison Roberts was enjoying the festival with her son and some of her friends.
From a family perspective, the block party appeared to hit the mark.
“Totally, because there is lots of stuff for kids. And I love the music and the beer for adults,” laughed Roberts.
“And the food is delicious. I’m really happy with this. It is my first time here and I will be back next year.”
Organizers say the event exceeded all expectations.
“The turnout that we’ve had since noon has surpassed last year for sure. We’ve had events for all ages which is a huge bonus. The community has been very supportive,” said Humble.
“As the North Bay Real Estate Board, we’re always looking for ways to give back. And we saw this as an opportunity, with the unfortunate news of Summer in the Park folding this year. We decided to move our festival into the summer and see if we could capitalize on the nicer weather and obviously, it has worked.”
Humble credited the sponsors for keeping the block party a free event.
Organizers look forward to building on the momentum to make it an even bigger party next year.
“We’ve had growth every year and looking at the big picture, we would love to have this be the summer event that the city looks forward to,” said Humble.
