A 20th edition of the Lumberjack Heritage festival has been approved.
This July will see the second decade of the event closed out with a celebration stemming from July 26th through 28th as council agreed tonight to keep the festival alive and well.
Mayor Dave Plourde says the final totals from the past year’s event were presented at council this evening.
In total, the 2018 event saw a slight loss of $1,546, but a huge $44,000 improvement over the loss from the year previous to that in 2017.
As well, the final results showed that roughly 4,275 people enjoyed the weekend, just over 3,000 were 19 and above and just over 1,200 were between the age of an infant and 18 years.
Plourde says some of the highlights and successes listed regarding last year’s festival included the decision to not hold a Saturday night concert at a separate location from Riverside Park. This led to more local acts hitting the stage for a much cheaper cost. The new Entertainment Pavilion or tent was also one of the top successes alongside the affordable ticket prices that were mentioned by a multitude of attendees.
He says there’s a good reason the festival has lived this long.
“Well I think the Lumberjack Festival has been around for 20 years for a good reason. I think the municipality needs a festival like the Lumberjack, there’s a need for a festival to bring back people to the community to just celebrate what we have to celebrate here in Kapuskasing, and I think it’s something we have to continue.”
Plourde also says you can expect some changes to this year’s festival.
“You are going to see new things at the festival guaranteed, we have a new vibrant team and going forward your going to see alot of new things happening and I think everybody will be surprised.”
He also mentions there are recommendations they hope to put into play for this year’s event to create those changes, such as:
- rebranding and changing the name of the festival (ideas given:Â Riverside
Festival, Riverbend Festival, Kap Heritage Days) - refusing permission for other events to take place during the same weekend
- include more garbage cans and seating areas
- create a designated area for minors in the Beer Garden
- create a designated smoking area
- rehire Sword Security from North Bay
The 2019 version of the festival is yet to be titled but is set to take place from Friday, July 26th through Sunday, July 28th in Kapuskasing.
