Police in Quesnel, B.C., were kept busier than usual during Billy Barker Days this past weekend.

The celebration that commemorates the region's gold rush resulted in 173 calls to RCMP and 49 people being held in cells.

Police say 33 people were arrested during this year's Billy Barker weekend for causing a disturbance or being intoxicated and unable to care to themselves in public.

Fifteen more were arrested for other criminal code offences, which is triple the arrests of the last festival in 2016.

Billy Barker was an English prospector who found the richest gold deposit in the Cariboo in 1862. (Billy Barker Society)

RCMP Sgt. Chris Riddle isn't sure if it's because the festival grew or if police were just in the right place at the right time more often.

"We tried to find the hotspots and we put police in those areas and it seemed to be effective," he said, citing a police effort to target property crime, which has increased in the city.

This festival also led to one man being arrested for assaulting two police officers and there were six immediate roadside prohibitions for alcohol related offences.

'A celebration of spirits'

Billy Barker Society president Selena Weier said the crowds this year were in an especially celebratory mood after last year's festival was cancelled due to wildfire.

"And maybe that kind of trickled out to celebration of spirits," she said, despite the fact alcohol isn't served at the main venues of the weekend festival.

Concession stands reported record numbers during the celebration this year. (Chris Lahoda)

She said the mood was also enhanced by bigger, more concentrated crowds.

The Billy Barker Society doesn't track how many people attend, but Weier said the concession served a record number of people.

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