Big acts were big draw for N. Platte
By Andrew Bottrell
Published: Friday, July 15, 2011 4:08 AM CDT / http://www.nptelegraph.com/articles/2011/07/15/news/40002184.txt
The North Platte Telegraph
North Platte has had a few weeks to relax and digest the most recent installment of Nebraskaland Days. So how did it go?
The lure of major country music acts Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton and rock act Hinder filled up the pavilion, and despite some rainy weather, things went pretty smooth.
"We had people from 34 different states and 230 cities in Nebraska in attendance," said Doretta Burrows, executive director of Nebraskaland Days. "We sold out the country music night. We haven't done that in a while."
Burrows said she believed there were more people in attendance than in the past, citing ticket sales being up 150 percent to the country music concert on June 24.
"That's quite a jump," Burrows said.
The sold-out Friday concert saw the purchase of 10,000 tickets. The Saturday night concert with Hinder and My Darkest Days sold 3,900 tickets.
Burrows said there are no hard numbers to judge some of the other events throughout the two weeks, but organizations throughout North Platte have given her positive feedback.
"I've heard good responses," Burrows said. "The carnival was down a little bit, but there were a couple of days where it rained, and because of the lightning they can't operate their equipment."
On the opening night, despite flooding canceling some of the Heritage Festival events, opening ceremonies still occurred at the Pavilion, along with the new Tommy V's Strongman Shootout Classic.
"That was a nice draw," Burrows said. "We moved the opening ceremonies to the arena, and it fed into the strongman competition."
Another new event, which Burrows thought attracted a large number of people, was the free concert June 23 with 3D In Your Face, an '80s metal hair band.
"The '80s hair band came out of Omaha," Burrows said. "And that drew a big crowd."
North Platte Police Chief Mike Swain also said behavior was pretty tame, despite the up tick in concertgoers.
"For the entire Nebraskaland Days it went very well," Swain said, "It seemed like people got along. We had a few problems in a few of the venues, but that can be expected with that many people.
"I think it was at least as good as [years in the past]," Swain added. "Nebraskaland Days does an excellent job of running the things that go on during the festivities, I think it went very well."