A new outdoor festival set to serve as the kickoff to Calgary’s 2016 Pride Week celebrations has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
WinSport and Calgary Pride announced Friday that the Pride Slide, originally scheduled to be held at Canada Olympic Park on Aug. 27, would no longer be going ahead as planned.
“Unfortunately, ticket sales did not live up to our expectations and with various deposit deadlines approaching, we could not wait any longer to make the decision to cancel the event,” WinSport president and CEO Barry M. Heck said in a news release.
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The event was supposed to feature a giant 245-metre wet slide, DJs, a cocktail garden and performances.
“WinSport will honour our commitment to make a donation this year to Calgary Pride, despite the cancellation of the event.”
Organizers said full refunds would be available for those who purchased tickets; tickets bought through Ticketmaster will be refunded automatically, while tickets purchased elsewhere will have to be returned by the original vender.
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“It’s regrettable that this year the Pride Slide won’t be happening,” Calgary Pride president Stephen Wright said. “I want all Calgarians to know that this won’t have any impact on the Pride Parade and Festival, which are going ahead as planned, and WinSport will be there with us.”
WinSport said details on other opportunities to ride the giant wet slide will be announced in the next coming weeks.
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