Harvest Homecoming officials: Attendance this weekend was 'over the top'

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- If you happened to hit up Harvest Homecoming this weekend – you were not alone. The crowds were huge – but was it a decent return for vendors?

“Everything we have is all we have,” said Paula Wimsatt who owns a candle and soap store in downtown New Albany.

The festival lived up to Wimsatt's expectations in sales and attendance.

“My four years doing Harvest and this is by far the best revenue we've had,” said Wimsatt.

Attendance was expected to be around 600,000, but Harvest Homecoming Festival President Beth White says it easily surpassed that count.

“This year was over the top,” White said. “Probably our largest crowd both at the river stage and in our booth festival for four days.”

The crowds were so big, some vendors – like St. John Presbyterian Church - sold out of items.

Wimsatt had to scramble to keep her shelves stocked.

“We have pulled out stuff that we have held back for winter and just put it out because we needed to fill those spaces with stuff,” Wimsatt said. “Ever since we opened the door people have been in all day long every day.”

The weather played a huge role in turnout – even with Sunday’s temperatures approaching 90 degrees, the crowds kept coming. Less than an hour before the festival ended, people were still lining up for last minute deals.

Wimsatt says she didn’t expect the weekend to be as bountiful as it was – and now she has to do some rearranging ahead of what she thinks will be a profitable holiday season.

“The fall candles are selling out like crazy so we have to order more fall scents to get us through the next four weeks,” Wimsatt said.

Festival organizers say they are taking the next few months to debrief and look at adding even more vendors next year. Planning for 2022 will start in January.

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