KELOWNA – The Arts Alive! program is no longer alive. An initiative that has allowed vendors to sell their crafts in Kelowna’s City Park has been cancelled. Now local vendors are scrambling to find ways to earn income during the summer months.
“This was my primary income and now I have to really look into something else,” says craft vendor Elizabeth Ferstel.
Ferstel has been selling her arts, crafts and clothing in Kelowna’s City Park for more than 15 years. However, now that the program that has allowed her to earn income during the summer months has come to an end, she and other vendors are upset and unsure what to do now.
“We were hurt because we worked through the winter, we worked numerous hours so we can be ready for April when the weather warms up,” says Ferstel.
She found out last month the Arts Alive! program was being cancelled. Some vendors took the issue to the city hoping alternatives could be found.
“They’re just not interested in having local artisans there anymore which is pretty disappointing for me, for my customers and of course for the tourists,” says Dani Lachuk, owner of Henna Oasis.
On Monday night, city council voted against having the program reinstated. However, the mayor says this doesn’t mean they’re closing the door completely on the topic; it’s just a matter of council looking into what the best alternative is for vendors.
“It’s not like we don’t want to have it, that’s actually not the truth at all. We believe it adds value to our community but there are you know times and places that are appropriate,” says Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran.
Last year, the program was changed, vendors went from having seven days in City Park down to four days. Many of them say they didn’t know that change would lead to the end of the program and they were shocked to find out that was the case this year.
“Without notice, written or verbal, we found out through word of mouth that the program has been cancelled,” says Ferstel.
However, Festivals Kelowna, which runs the program says that’s not the case.
“It had been coming for a number of years and a number of them had discussions with us for example at round tables and one-on-ones and the writing on the wall was pretty clear,” says Renata Mills, executive director of Festivals Kelowna.
Mills says Festivals Kelowna is changing its focus to short-term events like the popular piano in the parks.
“If we were still running Arts Alive! and using the tremendous resources it required from our staff, we wouldn’t be able to do a program like piano in the parks,” says Mills.
Meanwhile, some vendors are left scrambling to find alternate income this summer and a way to keep doing what they love. Festivals Kelowna is replacing the Arts Alive! daily retail model with a new festival called Arts on the Avenue.
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