The numbers have been crunched and by all accounts it looks like the Whistler Presents: New Year's Eve Celebration was a great success.
The event was created by the RMOW with resort partners to offer a non-alcoholic, family-focused festival to ring in the New Year. The night's program offered something for everyone: musical entertainment, a youth dance, kids' play and games, live artists and craft workshops, plus a funky DJ duo on stage to heat up the night for the fireworks finale at midnight.
This year, 2,000 wristbands were sold for the New Year's Eve festivities with children's' ticket sales doubling over last year.
Several venues along the Village Stroll were transformed for the celebration. The Whistler Arts Council (WAC) added Millennium Place programming into the mix this year for the first time featuring live art with local artists, kids' cartoons, games, crafts and tasty treats. The celebration at the Whistler Conference Centre also offered programming while those with ticketed wristbands were invited to skate under the stars and a giant disco ball at Whistler Olympic Plaza.
The evening came to a close in the Village Square where 3,000 people were grooving with DJs The Funk Hunters before the fireworks display at midnight.
"Whistler should be proud of the progress that has been made to transform New Year's Eve from a challenging event to a family-oriented, fun-filled experience," said Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden.
"Thank you to our community partners who helped us establish a good mix of programming to make it a memorable night."
By the numbers:
¥daily average of 1,500 attendees through the doors at Whistler Holiday Experience (RMOW funded produced by Watermark with assistance from TW in donating the Conference Centre).
¥2,000 wristbands sold for NYE, plus estimated 3,000 in Village Square for the DJ concert.
¥ 937 people through the door at Millennium Place (RMOW funded produced by WAC).
¥ skating at the Plaza was sold out New Year's Eve with 460 pairs of skates rented daily on average at $5 a pair in the holiday season.
¥ Meadow Park saw the fitness room numbers up over last year during the two week holiday period and at one point people even had to take numbers and wait to get in to work out.
Pick up this week's Pique to find out more.
