My hope, then and there, was that this spirit would carry on to the festival. Based on what he witnessed Saturday and Sunday, Foreman said his hope was more than realized. From everything I saw and everything so many people told me as I walked among the crowd, what I had hoped would happen did happen. Music really is a common denominator, a common language, and it really does bring people together, both the people who play it and the people who listen to it. And by providing people an opportunity to come together and share this common experience, I think we really can accomplish a lot to bring this world a little closer together, and I think it goes a lot farther toward reaching those lofty goals of getting people to get along and world peace than a lot of other things that have been tried.
Foreman hopes to line up at least three or four foreign bands for next year's event.
For various reasons, bands from Ukraine, Italy and Sweden were unable to make it. Those bands, and the others, of course, performed well and were received well. The figure includes attendance at the Danville-Boyle County Airport for the balloon race and at all concerts at Centre College, Weisiger Park and other venues. The biggest attendance for any single event is at the Saturday night picnic, and Boyd said the estimated 13,500 who attended the picnic this year set a new record. The Advocate Messenger.