For over forty years the Regina Folk Festival has brought many kinds of music to Victoria Park. This year will be no exception, except the grounds will look a lot different.
Thanks to construction of the City Square project taking which is taking over 11th Avenue and part of Victoria Park, organizers had to re-design the festival.
“We had to move our concessions, our arts market, and three of our stages,” Artistic Director Sandra Butel said.
Over 20 performers from around the world, dozens of vendors and thousands of people will pack the park. The construction has caused some difficulty for Butel and her staff.
“It’s reduced the space we can use,” Butel said. “We’ve moved concessions onto the street and some of the port-a-potties on the street. We’ve been able to work with the city to say, “˜Hey, we lost a bunch of space. Where can we regain it?’”
The vendors have been moved around a bit, but Jordan Fieseler, the owner of Sacred Earth Soaps still expects it to be business as usual.
“It’s a similar kind of triangular layout,” Fieseler said. “It should be just as good.”
With the change in layout, organizers were actually able to add more tickets for festival goers. Changes to the park, including trees that were cut down in the past year, and the expansion onto the street allowed for more space.
Those attending the festival are enjoying the atmosphere, even with the construction area right beside it.
“With all the fencing and the tarps up, you don’t even really notice that there is construction going on downtown,” one said.
Organizers say in the long run all the construction will be well worth the hassle.
“We’re really excited about what it’s going to be like when it’s done,” Butel said. “It’s an opportunity for us to expand the festival and do more with it.”
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