Windy weather and temperatures lingering in the mid-40s to upper-50s thwarted Veishea committee members hopes of boosting attendance at Taste of Veishea but increased attendance at some indoor events.

Veishea Co-chairwoman Aimee Lee said while the weather negatively affected crowd numbers for outdoor activities, excluding the Veishea Parade, it boosted attendance at Veishea Center Stage and Dew the Rec, which were held indoors.

“The weather had no effect on Saturday’s parade, and as for the concert at Hilton and Dew the Rec, the weather probably brought more people in,” Lee said.

“Taste of Veishea was probably the only event hampered by the weather — attendance varied depending upon who was playing and what kind of following they had,” she said.

Lee also said Veishea Center Stage held at Hilton Coliseum and Dew the Rec held at Lied Recreational Center drew more people than last year.

“Last year’s attendance for Dew the Rec was about 500, this year it was triple that,” she said.

Corey Moss, music co-coordinator for the Veishea entertainment committee, said because of the chilly weather, people sought entertainment indoors. The weather boosted ticket sales tremendously for indoor events, he said.

“There were 600 tickets sold Friday for the concert at Hilton compared to years past where the most ever sold the day of a concert was 300,” Moss said. “As for Dew the Rec, there were 900 tickets sold on Saturday.”

But while indoor events thrived, musicians playing outdoors at the Taste of Veishea stage were met with sparse crowds, Moss said.

“The weather definitely had a negative effect on Taste of Veishea; at some points, there was only about 30 people,” he said.

Some Welch Avenue businesses did well, while others struggled.

Paul DeVries, manager of Cy’s Roost, 121 Welch Ave., said the weather slowed business only minimally.

“We couldn’t have our beer garden this year, which hurt business a little, but otherwise, things were relatively the same,” he said. “The only difference really was we had a younger crowd of customers.”

Tom Northrop, owner of Pizza Pit, 207 1/2 Welch Ave., felt the impact of the chilly weather and other dining alternatives being offered.

“With the vendors out on the street, business was hurt badly; in fact, it wasn’t even as good as a regular weekend, but it was still up a bit from last year,” Northrop said.

Rich Ostermann, manager of McDonald’s, 217 Welch Ave., said the cold weather hurt business, but sales were “still better than a usual [Friday] night.”