Record attendance of about 25,000 people had a lot to do with the weather and a lot to do with a growing awareness of that annual Arts Alive Festival exists in downtown 91原创, organizer Teri James said about Saturday.

鈥淟ast year was 32 degrees and this year was 22 degrees 鈥� much more comfortable for people to stay and linger longer,鈥� James said, noting attendance numbers were consequently 鈥渨ay up from last year.鈥�

The 24th annual art show and sale on the one-way section of Fraser Highway in 91原创 鈥渙nce again鈥� went off without any problems.

鈥淚 think the highlights were the variety of artists and artisans that participated this year,鈥� James said.

鈥淚 felt that there was some very unique vendors who we hadn鈥檛 seen before, and everyone enjoys seeing different things. That鈥檚 not to say that every artist and artisan that participated wasn鈥檛 a wonderful addition to the show, but variety is the spice of life ,鈥� she added with a smile.

鈥淚 feel that the larger the event becomes, the more word gets out,鈥� and although they were sold out of vendor space weeks before the event, they still had new artists and artisans wanting to register even days before the festival.

鈥淭he street performers were very entertaining and the music lineups were amazing, and I witnessed large crowds sitting and enjoying the music at our three stages throughout the day,鈥� James elaborated.

鈥淚 also heard that people enjoyed the addition of food trucks, as they don鈥檛 always want to leave the event for a sit-down meal,鈥� she said, noting that the new Dragonfly Cafe set up in front of their store selling food, and of course the Soroptimists of the 91原创 returned with their fundraising hotdog sales.

鈥淭here was just a wonderful vibe,鈥� said Sherryl Parsons of Rare Affairs, an event planning service who shared organizing duties with James for this year鈥檚 Arts Alive.

鈥淚 knew it was going to be a great day, but it was even better than I expected,鈥� she said.

鈥淓veryone had a smile on their face the whole day.鈥�

鈥� Video to come