The first Okotoks Music Drive seems to have been a big hit among Okotokians.

Despite having been postponed from its original Victoria Day date, sunny skies and a high of +20 yesterday afternoon made for ideal conditions for those wanting to enjoy some live music.

One of the event's organizers Jessica DeCoste says the reception was a little overwhelming.

"It was a huge success, especially considering this was our first one! I am just blown away. I'm not surprised that Okotoks came together like this, that's not a surprise, I'm just surprised by how much response there was and how busy it was in some areas, it was like driving around on Halloween night!"

Despite the high volume of attendees, Siqueira says she was pleased to see plenty of physical distancing being practiced.

"The big thing I wanted to stress was physical distancing, because we do not want anybody getting sick, which is why we did it from a distance. People really weren't anywhere close to each other; people were dancing with family members, so it was good that way."

With her whole family being musicians, Siqueira says she understands how difficult it can be to get to and from venues. She attributes part of the event's success to the convenience for performers.

"It's hard to get all of your stuff into a location. Setting up, taking down, driving to a place, it's a lot of work. So doing it right from the comfort of your own home, just bringing your music outside, was definitely an easier option. I think a lot of musicians thought 'Yeah, this is simple enough, I can just take my guitar out and play acoustic!'"

Around 18 musicians performed at the event , all of them doing so from their driveways or front lawns.

The "drive" part of the Music Drive came in the form of food bank donations, of which DeCoste says there were many.

"I thought 'Wow, there's a lot of food in these buckets!' People were having to bring out second and third tables to take all the food, and we had a lovely gentleman in Cimarron who asked a band to play a little bit longer and said he'd donation a couple extra hundred dollars if they did. I couldn't be more pleased with how this turned out for our first go-round."

Both the food and monetary donations will be added up and weighed on Tuesday, after which the food items will be stored before being distributed.

As for the future of the Okotoks Music Drive, DeCoste and Siqueira say they have one or two ideas for what could be improved upon next time, and that the Town of Okotoks has expressed interest in holding another.