After years of planning and preparation, the Grey Cup Festival has come and gone, with tens of thousands of people attending the week-long festival.

The festival featured something for everyone to attend, whether it was music, family fun, or hanging out in one of the team party rooms.

President and CEO of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Craig Reynolds, said the festival was able to exceed their already high expectations. He said it’s hard to describe how it feels now that it is done.

“You are sort of sad it’s over. We’ve been talking about it for so long. We’ve been looking forward to it for so long, but you are just so overwhelmed that it went so well and people enjoyed themselves,” he said. “It was exactly what we had hoped, which is bringing people together post-pandemic and having people enjoy everything that is fantastic about the CFL.”

Reynolds said everything they accomplished with the festival was thanks to the volunteers.

“I can’t talk enough about our volunteer planning committee and the number of volunteers that were working on this festival and made it comes alive,” he said. “I heard it constantly from festival goers just how incredible the hospitalized that they showed was, and it just made for an excellent festival.”

He noted that attendance also exceeded their expectations. Reynolds said they wouldn’t have exact numbers on attendance for a while.

For Reynolds, he said a trio of events stood out for him.

“I was really impressed with the youth rally in Saskatoon. That was a great way to engage Saskatoon, northern Saskatchewan and youth in the festival,” he said. “The highway cup run was another one that stands out, where we were able to take the cup down from Saskatoon and drive through the towns and see the kids out there waving to it.

“The Esports was really cool. Visually it was outstanding, and I think we exposed a number of people that might not have come to the festival otherwise to the Grey Cup and the Grey Cup Festival,” he continued.

Regarding what Reynolds heard from others, he said there was a very positive response from attendees, especially about the festival being on one footprint.

The festival received roaring reviews from the CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, who Reynolds said gave it a 10 out of 10.

As for the game itself, Reynolds said it was the cherry on top of an already great week.

“You always want the Grey Cup game to be outstanding, and it was,” he said. “It was an instant classic. The way it ended, it was close throughout, and a lot of drama and that’s what you are hoping for in any championship game.”