Huffman: Forest Festival ′one of the best we′ve ever had′
Attendance numbers at this year′s event surpass expectations
By Steve Knight—The Lufkin News
September 23, 2011


The official numbers have yet to come in, but Texas Forest Festival organizers on Sunday said attendance figures exceeded their expectations.



Jerry Huffman, president of the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, said he estimated between 25,000 and 30,000 people went through the George H. Henderson, Jr. Exposition Center′s turnstiles during the five–day event.

"It probably has been one of the best we′ve ever had. Our day on Saturday was an absolute record," Huffman said. "We had people from the time we opened up Saturday morning until almost midnight. We′ve seen a lot of smiles on a lot of folks′ faces and
we′re just proud to be a part of it."

The festival experienced perfect weather conditions, which helped attendance, he said, thanking the more than 350 volunteers that made the event possible.

"I cannot thank our volunteers enough. All those people who helped put this together—we spent two or three days out here getting ready and we′ll probably spend two or three days taking everything back up, but that′s the nature of our event," he said. "The Forest Festival continues to grow and it′s become the regional festival between Houston and Tyler and we′re very proud of that. We just love to do things to keep going with our ambition to provide a family entertainment event in this part of Texas."

There′s always room to improve the festival, Huffman said, as organizers always learn something from each event they host.

"There′s always those kinds of things. Our group will get together pretty quickly next week while it′s fresh on our minds, and we′ll do a critique of the entire event and keep a list of what to improve on," he said. "That′s our goal and we listen to the folks that come, and they′re pretty good about telling us that they like something or don′t like something. We′ll use that to decide what we need to do to improve our entertainment and our package."

Grateful to residents and visitors who attended this year, Huffman said proceeds from the festival will help area non–profit organizations.

"Obviously we need seed money for next year, but we then try to give a donation to the Exposition Center, Angelina Beautiful/Clean and the Texas Forestry Museum. Then the Chamber utilizes some of the money for its own programs," he said. "We are exceptionally grateful. If it were not for this event, we would not be able to make those contributions and help those kinds of entities. They all pitch in and help. We′re very proud that we′re beginning to see more people from the region, not just Lufkin or Angelina County, but different places around our region."

Without the help of sponsors, including presenting sponsor Brookshire Brothers, Huffman said, the festival would not have been successful.

"They help with all kinds of events out here," he said, referring to the Lufkin–based grocery chain. "They′re the ones that brought the (Oscar Mayer) Wienermobile out here. They′re the ones that brought the Cheerios NASCAR. They are such an asset to us and we couldn′t do it without them and it′s a great partnership."

Organizers have received positive feedback on old and new events to the festival, including the Kachunga Alligator Show and the Timberworks Lumberjack Show.

"I′ve heard a lot of people say they like the alligator show and we have a brand new lumberjack show and they seem to be really enjoying that," he said. "I know the kids like the ZOOperstars and our Gator the Clown who comes and does the balloons and they love that sort of thing. That′s what is so fun about this event is when you put a smile on a kid′s face, you′re successful."


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