Drawing a crowd of nearly 78,000 under sunny skies, this year’s Steveston Salmon Festival was the best ever, according to festival administrator Janice Froese.

“Usually I get calls throughout the day with little problems, but [this year] my phone was really quiet,” said Froese. “That’s why I say this year was the best yet.”

With a temperature of 23 degrees and clear skies, the Canada Day celebration ran as smoothly as possible Froese said. Only one small medical emergency was noted during the parade and there were no reported injuries.

Froese said the crowd was estimated at 78,000, but along the parade route, the number of people who flocked to Steveston seemed even higher.

Nearly 1,800 servings of salmon were dished out, and the booth was bare by 2 p.m., the earliest ever. Even the pancake breakfast ran out of supplies earlier than anticipated, something that will be considered for next year’s festival.

“We’re going to have to plan to have more food next year,” said Froese.

The only thing that put a damper on the festival this year was a rash of public drunkeness.

“It was mostly young adults with beer in their backpacks, who still after four years think there’s a beer garden,” she said.

But most of the troublemakers were handled promptly and responsibly by onsite police.

Overall, the festival went “really, really well” and Froese is looking forward to making the festival even better for next year.