Festival attendance strong during drought

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - While the drought conditions are sparking burn bans across the area , the dry, sunny weather has been great news for festival-goers and organizers.    

"This is BBQ weather. This is summer, so we should see increased attendance," Cindy Chappuis, the organizer of RibFest in Fort Wayne , said.

The weather has not only been dry and sunny,  it has not been very hot and humid, which can be perfect festival weather.

The director of Headwaters Park, Geoff Paddock, said attendance for GermanFest last week was up and so far RibFest is going strong.

Photos: RibFest 2012

Chappuis said she expects a big crowd this weekend, even though it will be a bit hotter outside.

While the rib fans will be flocking to the festival, Paddock said the landscape around Headwaters Park may look a little different.

"The grass is brown. We have done a lot of irrigation and we don't want to waste water so we are doing it more in the evenings," Paddock said. "While we've had some droughts in the past few years, this seems to be perhaps the most extreme I can think of."

The dry conditions do create one concern for organizers: cigarettes.

"We are making announcements on the main stage saying please make sure you're extinguishing their cigarettes and being responsible because it doesn't take anything and you've got a spark and then you've got a fire," Chappuis said.

Paddock said the park is also taking precautions.

"Because of that concern we have done extra watering and extra irrigation so the ground is not quite as dry," he said. "We want people to realize that an errant cigarette or throwing a match could produce catastrophic results."

Still, Chappuis said for the festival, a drought is better than a rainstorm.

"I feel badly for the farmers, but this is beautiful weather. When you have an outdoor venue, weather is everything," she said.

The nice weather appears to be helping the TinCaps as well. The game on Thursday night had the third highest attendance on record.