The last night of GlobalFest ended with a big bang on Saturday. Not just the spectacular fireworks, but also a big show from mother nature after wind gusts and rain tormented the crowd at Elliston Park.
“Last night,for us, was really a testament to what it is to be Calgarian and what it is to Albertan,” Ken Goosens, a GlobalFest producer, said Sunday. “You stick through the hardships because you know at the end, it’s all worth it. The fireworks were a perfect example of that. It rained through the first 20 minutes.”
A fighting spirit is what organizers are hoping for, as they launch a crowd funding campaign to keep GlobalFest alive.
The weather this year caused walk-up sales to shrink by half and the economy is being blamed for a 25 per cent drop in advance sales.
Attendance has peaked in previous years at 112,000, but this year just over 80,000 attended the fireworks spectacle.
Corporate bookings also suffered and two shows had to be postponed because of the weather.
“It’s really tough. When you’re having to layoff employees, how can you then justify doing something where it could be a person whose job is the money that they would’ve spent,” Goosen said.
Sales were down for vendors, including Whales Tails Fry Bread stand. Sharon Doornsbosch from B.C. has been setting up the stand at GlobalFest for the past four years. But she says coming out again this year has been well worth it.
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“Of course I’m coming back!” Doornsbosch said. “GlobalFest is amazing. I’m coming from Vancouver. We have our fireworks show on English Bay, but I like this one better. It’s longer and there’s nothing to take away from the beauty of the fireworks.”
While GlobalFest is best known for the pyromusicals put on by countries from around the world, the not-for-profit group is also busy for the rest of the year bringing in speakers for their human rights forum and an urban arts program that travels to city schools.
“We have already started talks with the city to see what we can do to move through this because GlobalFest is an important part of the fabric of the community and it would be a shame to lose that,” Goosen said.
Organizers are determined to put on a big show next year to celebrate Canada’s 150 birthday, but for now it’s all about how to deal with their biggest loss ever this year, which is expected to be over $100,000.
“It’s been tough. Everybody has really been struggling, not just us, the corporations. This is the reason for events like GlobalFest, like the Stampede, like other festivals. You need a place to come and celebrate. You need a place to come together and get to know your community,” Goosen said.
The goal is to raise $150,000 dollars through the crowd funding effort. People who donate $50 or more by the end of September will get a free ticket to the 2017 finale.
“It’s a modest goal of $150,000 but for us that’s a huge amount. Our budget is around $4 million but $150,000 would get us through and really give us a good cushion to be able to move forward in what is going to be a brilliant year afterwards,” despite the negative numbers, Goosen is predicting an even better show next year.
“So if they saw a beautiful show last night, next year’s finale will be 10 times bigger.”
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