Hurricane Dorian ripped through the Maritimes this weekend, knocking down trees and power lines.
Fredericton didn’t get the brunt of the storm, but heavy rain caused the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition to close its gates.
“It’s the first time we’ve closed for an entire day. Unfortunately, Saturday is the worst possible day. To lose a Sunday or to lose a Tuesday or Wednesday, those are easy ones to get back, but losing a Labour Day and losing Saturday were big hits,” said Mike Vokey, the exhibition’s executive director.
Vokey says attendance was down almost 40 per cent this year, causing a major hit to the event’s bottom line.
“The Saturday alone, we would have been down close to just shy of $100,000 in ride gross and the gate,” said Vokey.
The exhibition would now like to host a charity concert to make up the loss with the acts that didn’t get to take the stage.
“When something bad happens, there’s always a positive spin on it and there is a positive way you can look at things,” said Vokey.
As the exhibition packs up, the Harvest Jazz And Blues Festival is getting ready to kick off, and setup has resumed in Officers’ Square now that Dorian’s wrath has passed.
“It lit a fire under us, for sure. We got as much done as we could before the bulk of the storm hit and we were monitoring it closely. Thankfully, it wasn’t enough to slow us down so we actually ended up a little bit ahead of schedule,” said Jeff Richardson, general manager of the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival.
WATCH: Hurricane Dorian — Maritimes clean up after storm’s powerful punch
Richardson says over 1,000 volunteers signed up for the festival and the event is full steam ahead but that organizers will be keeping an eye on the forecast in the days ahead.
“We’re checking off a lot of boxes now, making sure all the tents are set up and the stages. We’re getting ready to welcome a whole bunch of artists and tens of thousands of people to downtown Fredericton,” said Richardson.
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