The Hyack Festival Association is aiming to be bigger, better and more relevant than ever before.
The association's festival schedule for 2013 includes: Hyack Festival (May 17 to 26); Key West Ford Hyack International Parade (May 25); Uptown Live (May 25); Canada Day Celebrations on the waterfront (including fireworks); Concerts on the Quay; and the CIBC Christmas Parade of Lights (Dec. 7).
As part of a major restructuring of its core festivals and events in 2012, Hyack sought to make the city's' major events more vibrant, contemporary and inclusive.
That restructuring eliminated FraserFest and the Easter Antique Car Parade, but introduced new events including RiverFest, Concerts on the Quay and Uptown Live.
"Uptown Live will be back for sure," said Douglas Smith, the association's executive director. "The concert series on the boardwalk will be expanded, and we will be presenting a Canada Day fire works spectacular on July 1. We strongly believe that's the most appropriate day for fireworks."
The association's signature event, the Hyack Festival and Parade, will kick off the festival season.
"We are going full-out on that again," Smith said. "We have been working really hard to outreach for new applicants for the Hyack International Parade. We are trying to beef up participation in that parade."
Smith said the association has done a thorough review of all the categories in the parade, such as mascots, marching bands and corporate participants, and is working to ensure the best entries participate.
"We're going to take the same approach with the Christmas parade," he said. "If we are going to commit to these parades we are going to make them as good as we possibly can. The feedback from the community is they want them; they love them. The community wants them so my attitude is we are going to give them the best parades, we possible can. We are going to set the bar high."
Throngs of young people flocked uptown last spring to listen to popular indie bands at Uptown Live, which followed the Hyack International Parade.
"We have got three bands that are already confirmed: The Belle Game, The Shilohs and Bend Sinister featuring Moxon who appeared last year on his own," Smith said. "We have got offer sheets in on several others, including the winner of the Peak Performance Project."
In addition to offering some "really cool and relevant activities" such as entertainment and skateboard and BMX demonstrations, Smith said Hyack is working on plans to create a bit of a food truck festival at Uptown Live.
"We are reaching out to food trucks in Vancouver," he explained. "We are looking to bring in a whole fleet of food trucks."
The City of New Westminster will hold its annual Canada Day festivities in Queen's Park, which features entertainment, a lunchbox auction and displays.
That evening, the Hyack Festival Association will continue the fun with an event at Westminster Pier Park from 4 to 11 p.m.
" We want to introduce some programming at Pier Park that culminates in fireworks at 10 o'clock," Smith said.
Concerts at the Quay are returning for a second year on the waterfront, featuring performers at Westminster Quay on Saturdays in July and August.
Ray Bonneville will perform on July 13. In addition to winning a Juno award in 1999 and being nominated on two other occasions, his award-winning song about the resilience of New Orleans - I Am the Big Easy - received considerable airplay in the United States.
The association will wrap up its 2013 festival season with the Christmas Parade of Lights and tree lighting.
"We are also looking to expand festivities during the Christmas season. We would like to program regular activities at Hyack Square and other areas of the community during the month of December," Smith said. "The weather last year for the Christmas Parade of Lights taught us that it is dangerous to focus all your resources on one day. Spreading the programming out makes sense, particularly with respect to the economic benefits for retail merchants."
A press release states the Hyack Festival Association has acted as the city's arms-length event management office since 1971, producing numerous events each year, including the storied Hyack Festival in May.
"Over the past year, the message we have received from community stakeholders is to produce less events but ensure they are of high quality. That's the direction we have tried to follow," Smith said. "Our focus has been to build individual event budgets to the levels that allows us to produce a first-rate festival. Thankfully, our sponsors have supported this vision and have provided the support necessary to achieve our goals. Our media partners provided more than $150,000 worth of promotional support last year and that really helps put New Westminster on the map regionally."
According to Smith, the Hyack Festival Association was able to expand the amount of money spent directly on events by 33 per cent.
"We are very proud of the fact direct spending on Hyack events increased by $50,000 in 2012 from $160,000 to more than $210,000," he said. "Last year, the City of New Westminster provided us with a grant of $140,000.
"In effect we were able to leverage the city grant very effectively without the city having to cover any staff or administrative costs. We were able to invest the increased revenues back into the production of more appealing events. The community really benefits when the grant funding from the city is leveraged properly."
Smith believes the city is "getting really good value" from its grant to Hyack.
"I look at it that the city is investing in us. We have to give them a really good return on their investment," he said. "I think we are doing that."
Smith believes the quality of the events being produced has improved in recent years.
Other changes in the works include a new "corporate identity" for the Hyack Festival Association, as that would move away from some of the perceptions that have built up in the last 40 years.
"The problem with the name is it pigeonholes us to an event that is held over a two-week period in May," Smith said of the Hyack Festival Association name. "The name is restricting us from properly branding and promoting all the events that we produce."
In the meantime, Smith is still looking into future festival endeavours for the association.
"I am looking at a couple of other things as well," he said. "It is all about finding events that are relevant and sustainable."
