Quote:
Originally Posted by Ottawan
Lebreton can *easily* handle 40,000 - Bluesfest has had nearly that many (a main stage crowd of 37,000 as a record seems to stick in my head, but I could be wrong - certainly they've hit 35,000 several times), and has never filled "to capacity".
Parliament Hill is much larger than people realize. Supposedly there were 500,000 people on the Hill for the peak of the noonday show on Canada Day this year (ie, to see Will & Kate). It's amazing how many people can fit in surprising spaces.
That said, I don't mourn the loss of a country show to the suburbs - probably most people who went came from Barhaven or Kanata anyway... The article itself hints at the real problem: not people capacity but car (parking) capacity. Lebreton could take 50,000 people, but not 25,000 cars (assuming everyone shares a ride). People going to a country music festival probably take their cars in greater numbers, where people going to other festivals may be more inclined to take transit.
|
Those are very true points. A disproportionate number of the locals there likely come from the suburbs or from the outlying areas. However, many are likely coming from out of town, and the most likely place for them to stay is downtown, not in Barrhaven or Kanata.
Parliament Hill itself would be a great place I agree, but it would create a lot of anger from downtowners, most of them want nothing to do with country music and they believe it does not represent Canada at all (at least in the mind of them).