Organizers of Hamilton’s biggest arts and music festival are hoping the Ford government will have good news for them in the coming weeks as they tentatively plan for a scaled-down Supercrawl in October.
Festival director Tim Potocic says they’re crossing their fingers that the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t as bad as it could be and public health measures will ease enough to hold a smaller Supercrawl on James Street North on Oct. 8 and 9.
“The city is is on board with us doing it,” said Potocic during an interview on Global News Radio 900 CHML’s Scott Thompson Show.
“We’re not getting any resistance from the special event department or tourism department or anything like that, trying to execute something. But we can’t execute anything until we’re assured by the province that we’re open for business again, so it’s quite a risk.”
There would only be two stages and there would be fewer performances over the two-day period, although Potocic said they’re currently in talks with some performers — mostly ones based in Ontario — to avoid any complications if travel restrictions become an issue during the fourth wave.
Part of the problem, Potocic explained, is that it’s not an event that can easily be run at half or reduced capacity.
“We have no ability to control crowds, so … we basically have to be 100 per cent outdoor open for business, 100 per cent capacity.”
“If the province says we’re 100 per cent capacity indoors, but there are restrictions and guidelines with respect to masks and whatnot on the inside — but outdoors is just 100 per cent back to normal … then that’s when we can actually say, okay, push the green button and we’re doing Supercrawl in October.”
It would be a significant financial boost for sectors that have been hit hard by the pandemic, including arts, music, tourism and the restaurant industry.
In 2019, Supercrawl drew over 250,000 visitors over three days and had an economic impact of more than $20 million, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism.
The province recently announced $43 million for festivals and events to deliver “innovative and safe experiences that allow people to safely reconnect with their communities” through the Reconnect Festival and Event Program, which included $200,000 for Supercrawl for its 2021 programming.
Throughout August and September, Supercrawl is holding a series of free concerts in downtown Hamilton with up to 50 attendees selected through a lottery for in-person at the shows inside the new Bridgeworks event space at Caroline and Barton streets.
Those shows are also being livestreamed and will be available to watch on-demand for 48 hours after the concert.