Northern Lights gets better with age

“This year's Friday night was the best Friday night they've ever had,” said Gladys Gray, who along with her twin sister Joyce Larmarche, has been attending the Northern Lights Festival for 30 years.

Both can be easily found thanks to the bright and colourful clothing they wear as a uniform of sorts every year.

“At a festival you should be festive,” Gray said when asked about the bright clothes.

While the 2015 festival featured a number of acts from around Canada and the world, including headliners the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Kingston's Sarah Harmer, and Vancouver-based Dan Mangan, it was also a place for local vendors to showcase their wares, and for a wide variety of activities, including children's games and creative workshops.

Paul Loewenberg, who has been the festival's artistic director for 16 years, said Northern Light's 2015 edition was one of his favourites so far.

“I can't think of better weather,” he said.

While the Friday evening performances happened during a cool evening, with scattered showers, the skies cleared for Saturday and Sunday, with warm sunny weather throughout both days.

Many festival attendees took advantage of the warm weather to jump in nearby Ramsey Lake, Loewenberg said.

Just prior to the festival, Loewenberg had the chance to unveil a bronze statue of Canadian music legend Stompin' Tom Connors.

Stompin' Tom stood proudly on a hill overlooking the festival grounds with his guitar in hand. After the festival, the 600-pound statue will be moved to a permanent home in downtown Sudbury.

While the statue was a big reveal, and an undertaking that was a few years in the making, Loewenberg said he has some big plans for the festival's 45th anniversary next year.

“We know what the poster is going to look like already,” he said. “But I won't give that away.”

He has already been in talks with local musicians and composers to put together a special project to celebrate the milestone anniversary.

But with the stages freshly closed for 2015, that's another year away.