Dragon Boats Latest Casualty in Miramichi Festival Slide

5 festivals that need City Cash and Staff to Succeed

In the past two years, some of the most popular festivals in Miramichi have taken a hit. In January 2013, the Rotary Club of Newcastle announced it would be organizing it's final Pond Hockey Tournament in February 2013 after a successful 8 year run. 2013 also saw the summer favourite, Rock N Roll Festival, announce that it would sit out the 2014 event but are back again this summer. Neither organizing committee offered explanations as to why the events were cancelled, but the consensus is volunteer fatigue

Most recently, the Dragon Boat Festival, organized by the Rotary Club of Chatham, had announced that the event would be cancelled for 2015 if sufficient registrations were not received. The deadline for registrations came and went, and the event was indeed cancelled. Organizers tempted participants by lowering the age, price, and number of competitors per boat, but it still wasn't enough to get the event off the ground.

The Miramichi festival that seems to be bucking the trend is the Irish Festival. The festival's attendance was anemic for several years, but new ideas and a new outdoor venue revived the festival last year, and organizers are hoping to expand on last year's success. The Irish Festival looks poised to succeed, and the credit goes to a small, dedicated core of organizers. Let's hope they can sustain the momentum for many more years.

Successful Events Take Money, Staff, and Attendance

Other events in Miramichi have been successful, but they differ in that they required significant investment and effort from the city to be successful. The following 5 events could not get off the ground if not for cash and effort from City Hall.

1. The Tall Ships Festival two summers ago drew huge crowds despite cool weather. The event was a financial risk for the city, with a worst case scenario of a $300,000 loss if numbers were low. In the end, it cost the city $34,750 to run the event, and it brought out 17,000 people to see the ships. The event also had a paid organizer ($60,000), a large committee, and lots of in-kind support from the city. The city is considering another event for 2016 or 2017.

2. The recent bass tournament was also a big draw for the city, but took a commitment of $90,000 in cash and in-kind services to pull off. The event also had the help of a paid co-organizer ($5000), and relied heavily on work from city staff and summer students to pull it all together. Unlike the other events in this list, the bass tournament is going to be a yearly event. The city says they plan to turn the event over to a local group to organize, but that may not be a good idea if volunteer fatigue is contagious in the city.

3. Last year, the city also committed $36,000 toward the cost of hosting the 2017 Jeux de l'Acadie. They were not successful in their bid, but are applying again this year for the 2018 games. The event will require an enormous effort from the francophone community in and near Miramichi, as well as the best efforts of the city to make it run smoothly if they are successful in their bid.

4. The 2013 Atlantic Air Show was also well attended, but took a financial commitment from the city of $40,000. the event rotates around the Maritimes each year, and could be back in Miramichi again in a few years, as organizers were looking to build a relationship with the city so it could be a regular host of the event.

5. The newest event planned for the city is the Music New Brunswick Festival slated for the fall of 2016. A committee put together an application for the event, and it was accepted. The city had no role in the application (other than Councillor Peggy McLean being part of the committee), but says it supported the effort, and will budget $10,000 in cash and in-kind services to put toward the event next year.