Supercrawl hopes to attract big crowds

(Updated)

It’s a festive if not slightly chilly atmosphere — at one of the biggest street festivals in our region — Supercrawl.

it’s the little festival that grew. Supercrawl could barely cover a couple of blocks when it started. But it has grown so rapidly that organizers fear they may have to expand the boundaries across the central core, next year. So what is driving this urban festival in both size and acclaim? Well, a lot of things.

Seeing the crowds jamming James Street North on a cool September night — it’s hard to believe where Supercrawl started from just five years ago.

Festival Director Tim Potocic: “We started with around three-thousand.”

Since then, the annual festival has continued to develop, both in size, and scope.

It’s the music that pulls in most of the college crowd. But It’s designed to celebrate the arts. All kinds of arts from the traditional — to the slightly less traditional.
this street fashion show is rehearsing for Saturday and features one of our own from CHCH, Britany Cochrane. And then there is literally art on the street. And along the way, Supercrawl has gathered fans from far and wide.

Griffin Marsh, Victoria B.C.: “I’m a McMaster student and everyone’s talking about Supercrawl so I came out to see what it’s all about.”

Philip from Kitchener: “Some friends from Mohawk College told me about it and I thought I’d come down and check it out. It’s pretty sweet.”

Joeletta from Ottawa: “So sick. I’m really excited.”

and Stephanie from Brantford: “Best pulled pork taco I’ve ever had. I never heard of Supercrawl before and I go to McMaster University.”

It never ceases to amaze Tim Potocic: “I’m surprised every year. I love the surprise. And it helps us elevate so we can bring it to another level.”

The festival has grown so much in fact — that it’s become, a bit of a circus

But Potocic says they’re not just aiming to make it bigger every year: “It’s not so much about getting bigger every year, while bigger is nice — it’s about just continuing to raise the quality of what we’re doing and doing it in a respectful way so that bigger crowds can come if they want.”

And apparently, a lot of people do.

Hamilton’s own hometown heroes, The Arkells, are headlining the main stage right now and that seems fitting. They began at McMaster University and the reputation of the festival has spread from that institution across the country. Supercrawl is no longer crawling. It can quite capably stand on its own, and will be running full tilt all weekend, here in Hamilton.