The Hyack Festival Association has unveiled a new name, but it's a familiar one.
Festivals New West is the new moniker, but it is a name that was first kicked around when former executive director Douglas Smith was involved in the organization. There is also a colourful, spruced up logo to go with the organization’s new name.
"It is Christmas – a time of giving – and we wanted to enter the season by giving our members and the citizens of New Westminster a look at what Hyack has in store for 2014. We also wanted to enter the new year with a truly fresh and invigorated association," president Gavin Palmer said in a media release. "This is why we thought it was the perfect time of year to initiate a sneak peak at our efforts to date. We consider this a working platform on which to build a new, more relevant Hyack in the years ahead. We wanted people to know that we listened to what they had to say and did something concrete about it."
The Hyack organization has had some internal issues since the summer, when four Hyack executive members fired Smith without getting approval from the board of directors. Since then, there have been two feuding camps and many questions about the state of the organization.
But the recent press release paints a rosy picture, describing the new name and logo as an image update. Palmer said the Hyack board has long supported the name change, and the goal is to attract a broader audience to Hyack events.
The press release includes a designer’s note that describes the thought process behind the new logo:
“The logo emphasizes the word ‘Festivals’ which means it is all about fun-first. The colour orange is one of the trend colours for spring 2014 and is a relevant colour in our cultural/political environment. The spray splashing off the right side represents the mighty Fraser River. The colours in the spray represent the many festivals Hyack produces and those we hope to produce with other organizations. All this rests on a stable base in black text stating New West. The use of New West is a testament to the common use of this short from for the City of New Westminster."
