Back to Batoche Numbers Higher than Ever

Back to Batoche Numbers Higher than Ever

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 10:05

Although numbers are still preliminary, Back to Batoche organizers believe this was by far the biggest celebration ever.

Event manager Claire Belanger-Parker says it is difficult to figure out exactly how many people were here because she says if you add up each day, there would be some people who were at the festival all week, but she believes there were between 50,000 and 70,000 people.

Belanger-Parker says she can’t say whether or not the festival made money as invoices are still coming in.

She says the festival was a huge success, though, with very few incidents: a few cameras were stolen as well as a laptop from a vehicle.

A sword believed to have belonged to leader Louis Riel was also stolen from the British Columbia pavilion during a media interview, but it resurfaced a few hours later, when festival security found it amongst the campers.

It’s believed children were playing with it.