Common Ground's attendance might have been short of organizers' goals.
But the estimated crowd of 56,600 surpassed the inaugural year's tally of 48,000. And that has organizers excited about next year's event.
"We are still close to 20 percent over where we were last year," Kevin Meyer, the festival's co-founder, said Tuesday. "We are moving in the right direction."
Organizers hoped to attract 60,000 people to the riverfront for the six-day Common Ground with '70s rock, country and R&B. The event replaces the Michigan Festival, an East Lansing music and arts event that went bankrupt in 1998 after 11 years.
By next week, Common Ground organizers will know whether they lost money, despite the higher attendance this year.
The event lost more than $90,000 in 2000 when 48,174 people attended. Of those 26,000 paid for tickets. The rest had sponsor tickets or were kids who went for free.
Meyer said they are still counting box office receipts, food and beverage sales and sponsors' contributions. He said he expects it to take three to five years before the festival makes a profit.
Moriarty's Pub, 802 E. Michigan Ave., said Common Ground patrons boosted its business this week.
"We did get a good kick in business, especially Sunday," said bartender Betsie Janson. "A lot of walk-ins stopped by to have a drink."
Lansing Councilwoman Carol Wood said the event was a chance to highlight the city.
The Sexton High School graduate said she saw classmates she hadn't seen in years at Tuesday's Gladys Knight concert.
"It was really neat to see all these different people together enjoying different music," Wood said.
Contact Christine MacDonald at 377-1286 or cmacdon@lsj.com.