Although Sunfest already has a reputation as perhaps London’s premier summer music festivals, its international standing is growing at an even faster rate. For example, Sunfest was voted one of the Top 100 North American events for 2011 by the American Bus Association.

That growing international reputation among the world music community is what Sunfest’s artistic director said has made it a global success.

“There are a record 20 international acts and 17 national. There were just so many international acts that are interested. The average has been a dozen, so we have way more than that this year,” Alfredo Caxaj enthused. “The profile of this festival is tremendous. Every year we go to this world music conference, WOMEX, and every year there are way more people looking for us. Not us looking for them. Our name, our logo, is immediately recognized.”

The 17^th edition of Sunfest takes place July 7-10, in Victoria Park.  General festive hours will run 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Entertainment will take place from 6-11 p.m. on Thursday and noon to 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Caxaj says he takes great pride in the way the festival’s reputation has grown. However, it does create some challenges when it comes to booking and scheduling performers. If he had the space and resources for example, Caxaj says he could have booked 75 performers.

“I have to struggle as artistic director to find the best possible combination because I have so many choices. It is very difficult, very challenging,” Caxaj says. “Really, to program this event takes a lot of work. You have to be sure and create the most innovative, fresh lineup that will bring together all kinds of elements. And artistically speaking, we want to create a very appealing festival. It is a struggle to juggle all the talent out there.”

With all that talent, Caxaj says he focuses specifically on making sure the audiences are given something fresh and new each year.

“I think an artistic director really has to keep in mind that you have to keep up to date with the changes that are happening. You have to continue reaching out to new audiences,” Caxaj says. “The new element this year is what we are calling Suntronica, which is a celebration of world music through electronics. We tried this on a smaller scale a few years ago and we saw positive results. This year we have about 10 groups.”

That constant effort to keep things fresh, Caxaj says, allows the festival to appeal to a wider audience.

“Sunfest is for everyone, it isn’t for any one particular group. But we think an element like Suntronica can really add to our event,” Caxaj says. “Since the festival was born it was never for any specific demographic group. It truly was for everyone. All colours, all races. Young, adults, children, families. That is the beauty of Sunfest.”

In recent years Sunfest has averaged an attendance of nearly 225,000 participants. This year, Caxaj says that in a year without the World Cup (attendance has always dipped during years when the World Cup was on), he expects another 10,000 new visitors this year.

That kind of growth could well push the festival beyond its capacity in Victoria Park. However, Caxaj says he already has visions of a Sunfest that expands beyond its current park setting.

“We are still happy to be in the park. But it is absolutely becoming too small for us. The next stage of my dream is to expand the festival into the streets of downtown. We don’t want to lose the heart of the festival, which is Victoria Park,” Caxaj says. “Every year we hear the comments that people came on Saturday evening but had to leave because it was so packed. It is a nice problem to have, but we have to do something about it. I think the natural thing is not taking the festival out of the park, but expanding it beyond the park. I hope to see that by 2013.”