The sounds of joyful screams from nearby rides mixed with the odour of various savoury foods as sizzling weather greeted the last day of Capital Ex.
What started out with a bang, with heavy winds and rain that battered the carnival grounds for the first weekend, turned to a clear whimper with days of cloudless skies.
“It was some wild weather,” said Sandra Pysklywyc, manager of public relations for Northlands.
Even with the turbulent weather, Pysklywyc said the grounds saw a good turnout to such outdoor events such as Ed Fest, the music stage that saw a variety of music acts such as Our Lady Peace, k-os and others.
“We had great crowds … people in the thousands for (Ed Fest),” she said.
“It was big entertainment all the way across and a celebration of summer.”
With the first days marred by not only rain, but heavy wind, Pysklywyc said that getting people to come back after a first rainy outing was made possible by new attractions such as the Wild Word of Lions and the Cirque Shanghai.
“Based on the way we have our entertainment set up, we had a number of things inside and outside,” she said.
The official numbers for the 2009 run of the Capital EX were not available at press time but will be released today.
In 2008, the event saw over 740,000 visitors and over 772,000 in 2007.
