The City of New Westminster is willing to work with the community to help with this year’s Sapperton Days street festival, but it’s not going to kick in any more cash.
The Sapperton Business Association recently requested the city contribute $25,000 towards the hiring of staff to support the 2019 festival. The longtime organizer of the festival is no longer able to put in all the hours needed to organize the event, so the group is in search of funding to hire people to help with the festival that’s held every June on East Columbia Street.
On Monday, council considered a letter from the business association and a staff report about the group’s request for an additional $25,000 grant, which is on top of the $5,000 grant already approved by council for this year’s festival. While the city recognizes the value and benefit of this event and has supported it with in-kind services and/or cash funding, the report said the city’s festival committee had already distributed $242,816 in 2019 – which was more than its total budget of $235,000.
Council approved a staff recommendation that it not support the additional $25,000 requested by the Sapperton Business Association, and directed staff to work with the event organizers to find alternative resources and planning methods to aid in the execution of the 2019 event.
Mayor Jonathan Cote said Sapperton Days has been an “incredible festival” in the community and is really appreciated by the neighbourhood.
“The festival grant committee had already allocated all of the funding that was available in the budget,” he said. “I think the recommendation, although difficult, there’s a part of me that thought maybe a smaller request might have been enough to satisfy the needs but it looks like they … almost (need) a staff person to put that on, which is a bit higher context.”
In a letter to the city, lead organizer Guy Ciprian said it would cost an additional $25,000 to employ people to organize the festival. In recent years, he’s spent about 600 hours of his own time annually organizing the event, which includes overseeing marketing and social media, finding sponsors, dealing with vendors, food trucks and entertainment, and doing administration, volunteer scheduling, risk management and other duties – with the workload increasing in recent years as a result of new procedures and policies from the city.
“I would certainly hope that some form (of festival) could occur with the grant funding that’s been provided to close down the street,” Cote said. “I hope, regardless of what happens this year, we are able to continue to work with the Sapperton business merchants, because to me I think it is a valued festival in our community. Maybe in future years we will be in a better position to really understand how we can make that a sustainable event.”
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the city’s contribution to the event was already “very generous” as it included a $5,000 grant and services on the day of the festival.
“I am hoping more of that neighbourhood group or businesses get involved in organizing it,” he said. “It’s difficult when one person does it all…I hope they are able to continue. I know for years we would fund them and they would actually make a profit at the end.”
In past years, the Sapperton Business Association (aka Sapperton Merchants Association) has donated proceeds from the festival to the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, including $13,000 in 2015 and $12,000 in 2011.
Thousands of people flock to East Columbia Street each year for the annual festival, which features live entertainment, dozens of vendors, booths featuring non-profit organizations, food trucks, and children’s activities like face painting, balloon twisting, a climbing wall and bouncy castles.
