It's been a week since the grand opening for the long awaited Gaslight District saw thousands of people flood into Galt to take in three days of free concerts and everything else downtown has to offer.
After the crowds dispersed, the lights dimmed, and the stage had been removed, we wondered about the city's assessment of the event that drew the largest crowd Cambridge has ever seen.
The city's director of economic development says it couldn't have gone any better.
James Goodram says the City of Cambridge had been preparing for the event for the past seven years and he believes those efforts paid off.
"This was probably the biggest event the City of Cambridge has ever seen," Goodram says.
The longtime Cambridge employee will soon be leaving his role with the city for a position in Guelph and says this was a perfect bookend to his career here.
During the event thousands took to the public square to listen to three days of live music that unfortunately, for hundreds of concert fans that failed to get there early, wasn't accessible because the event had reached capacity.
"We were at capacity almost the entire time," Kyle Priestley, co-founder and creative director of Gaslight Events Company Inc. says.
"There were around 7,000 people in the square on Saturday and 7,000 more who were waiting outside."
Despite not having the space to cater to every music fan that showed up, Priestly and his team are ecstatic the event went off without a hitch.
"This was a kind of exaggerated version of our events and now that we know what we can do, it'll be easier to plan for in the future," he adds.
But the grand opening's success wasn’t limited to the district itself as spillover crowds bled into the rest of the downtown, positively impacting the businesses on Main Street and beyond.
Cambridge BIA Executive Director Brian Kennedy says the increased foot traffic was noticeable in the numbers entering many businesses throughout the core.
“Several restaurants and pubs this past weekend on the east side of the river reported bustling lunch and dinner services non-stop until close,” Kennedy says.
“This is a testament that more people shopping, dining and playing at any of the fantastic businesses or attractions is for the betterment of the entire downtown.”
Kennedy says despite being two different entities, the BIA and Gaslight District will continue to work together moving forward to promote the area and limit any issues residents and visitors have with the increased traffic.
The BIA’s boundary is on the east side of the Grand River and is where it focuses most of its marketing efforts, however, building the strength on the west side is still important, Kennedy says.
“We need more people living, working and visiting downtown and the Gaslight District is playing an important part in making this happen,” Kennedy says.
“For some visitors, this may have been their first visit to downtown Cambridge or their first visit in a very long time, but I'm confident for many who had the chance to see the amazing offerings and continued revitalization last weekend, it won't be their last.”
Goodram also saw the spillover effect that helped support local businesses.
"I live near Java Jax downtown and the place was just packed all night," he adds.
"They had to stop letting people in because the staff had to go home at some point."
Looking to continue its momentum, the Gaslight District has already started organizing its Christmas Market for the holiday season and will continue on with its weekly live music shows and movie nights.
When it came to public safety, there were no major incidents requiring police and paramedic responses, or issues regarding property damage.
According to the city, by-law tickets were minimal.
In total, only nine citations were handed out for safety concerns such as vehicles blocking access for emergency response or parking on private property.
When asked about what the city is looking for in the future in regards to events, Goodram says it needs more to continue to drive innovation and attention to the downtown cores.
The organizers are also hopeful this event will only lead to bigger and better things.
"Honestly, I just want to thank the city and the mayor's office for helping us with such an amazing night and we really showed what Cambridge is made of," Priestly says.
"It was a refresh and just an all around good time."
It's clear HIP Developments CEO and Gaslight co-founder Scott Higgins finally realized his vision of a venue space centred around fun and togetherness.
"A big hats off to the community for celebrating together and being kind, accepting, patient and most importantly fun! You did it the right way...together," Higgins wrote in a social media post.
"'Lamebridge' officially died the weekend of July 29, 2023. Took me 45 years to put a nail in that one."