Carrboro wants to attract large festivals — but it has to figure out traffic flow first.
Nearly 10,000 people flooded into the town for the Carrboro Music Festival held on Sept. 28 and 29.
Gerry Williams, the festival coordinator, said the planning committee worked full time with members of the Recreation and Parks Department beginning in August. Williams has been the head of the planning committee for 16 years.
With 25 venues and over 180 performing acts, the festival lasted all day on Sept. 29. Weaver Street was shut down from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. to allow for the flow of traffic, Williams said.
“You can always do a festival better,” Williams said in regards to ideas for next year. “I tend to want things to run perfectly, which may be impossible.”
The main issue the committee is working to address for future events is parking and traffic flow, Williams said.
Shuttle buses are now provided to transport festival goers, but only 679 people out of more than 10,000 attendees utilized the shuttles, according to the official festival report prepared by organizers.
“Getting more people to use the shuttle bus is a goal every year,” Williams said.
The report also stated cars parked at Weaver Street Market had to be escorted out by police after the street was closed — but the town plans to address this issue for next year.