Summerfest brings bands and artists to Wakamow Valley

Wakamow Valley was filled with music, art and garage sale items Friday afternoon as Summerfest, a one-day festival raising funds for the battle against cystic fibrosis (CF), got underway.
The festival, featuring artists, bands, food, and a garage sale, had attracted quite the crowd by 3 p.m., shortly after the festival began.
Organizer Dylan Nash said he was extremely pleased with the turnout at the beginning of the event and was sure things were going to pick up as the day progressed.
Bands were scheduled to perform into the late evening hours on Friday.
The early success of the event was also an indication to Nash that perhaps next year the event could become a two-day festival, as he had hoped. "I definitely had hoped there would be room to grow and I think it could happen. Maybe even become an overnight thing where people can camp and stuff."
Nash said he is also pleased with the awareness the event has brought to his cause, CF. He said the fact that people were making donations and talking about the disease, made the hard work and planning worth every second put into it.
"It really came together well."
As for the entertainment, Nash said those bands that had performed early in the afternoon had done a great job and expected that those who were slated to perform later in the day would also do so.
"The bands have been great and we are really happy to have them here."
Among the bands and performers scheduled to take the stage were Tonic Clonic, Brainsauce, Go Jeff!, Drive, She Said and Megan Nash.
Lacey Langlois, a local artist, said she expected the festival would draw a great crowd. "One of the reasons my friend and I decided to get involved was because it is youth run."
She said she has taken her art to other festivals around the province but was hoping because the festival is geared towards a younger audience it would draw a more positive response.
"I have gone to other festivals but my work hasn't always gone over so well," she laughed.
Being that the inspiration for much of Langlois's work is beautiful people, she said being surrounded by them at the festival is a great way to spend the day.

Lyndsay McCready can be reached at 691-1256.