Getting ready to feed more than 300,000 over 10 days, Taste of Edmonton is putting the final touches on Sir Winston Churchill Square before starting its festival on Thursday.
“We are bringing the vibrancy back to Downtown Edmonton,” said Donovan Vienneau, the festival’s general manager.
The festival comes amid a troubling time for downtown Edmonton, with many questioning its safety amid ongoing addiction and crime issues.
“We are not blind about what’s happening in the downtown core, but we leave that up to the professionals,” said Vienneau.
He added Taste of Edmonton is prepared, as the event is fenced in and has lots of security.
But for the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, the issue of safety and public perception is at a critical point.
“To just say, ‘I heard this bad thing and therefore I’m not going to go,’ that’s the worst possible thing you can do for our city and our downtown,” said Puneeta McBryan, the association’s executive director.
The association said businesses and events like Taste of Edmonton are important for attracting people downtown, and helping to reduce the area’s stigma and getting more eyes on the street.
“These festivals and getting people here is the shortest path we have to creating a downtown environment that’s safe, creating a positive experience,” noted McBryan. “A busy downtown is a safe downtown.”
Celebrating 85 years in Edmonton’s downtown, menswear store Henry Singer is well experienced with the area’s challenges.
The brand’s president, Jordan Singer, says a healthy city starts with a thriving downtown.
“We believe the city should put a focus on cleaning up downtown, you know, making people feel safe downtown. And, of course, businesses investing downtown will help that as well,” said Singer.
It’s one of the reasons why the company is building a new flagship store in the city’s ice district set to open this fall.
“A downtown should have, you know, interesting shopping and restaurants and venues and things for people to do,” added Singer.
These are short-term pushes to keep people coming back while work continues to solve the long-term issues.
“There is work happening. The people in power are listening. We don’t want to see the situation continue the way it is,” said McBryan.