New West Pride is seeking to expand its territory so it’s not bursting at the seams.
The group is applying to city hall for a festival grant to help with some of the costs of organizing the growing New West Pride Festival.
“This will be our sixth year,” said president Jeremy Perry. “We started as a small community event in Tipperary Park.”
By 2014, the Pride Festival had grown into a nine-day event that included 23 events at venues around the city.
“We had many, many sold-out events,” Perry said.
Perry recently appeared before city council to elaborate with the group’s grant application. He said the application doesn’t provide space to adequately explain the economic benefits generated by the festival.
“We definitely got a lot of feedback from different businesses about the economic impact,” he later told the Record. “It was very positive.”
Events exceeded organizers’ – and local businesses – expectations.
According to Perry, an event at Steel & Oak Brewing Company attracted the brewery’s biggest crowd in its tasting room (more than its opening day) and the Met had its highest day of sales ever. While organizers of a bowling event at Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes anticipated a few folks would turn out for their event, they were overwhelmed by the response.
“It never occurred to them it was going to be a popular event,” he said about the organizers, who didn’t think they needed to pre-warn the business about the event. “Every single spot on every single lane was full. People were being turned away.
New West Pride Society is hoping to expand the area available for its street party on Columbia Street this summer. The hope is the city will allow the party to stretch from Fourth Street to Eighth Street this year, instead of having it between Fourth and Sixth streets.
While the event has never caused problems in the past, organizers want to ensure conflicts don’t occur by making sure the street doesn’t become overcrowded.
“We are bringing in a good crowd, looking to spend money in our city and having fun in a good way,” Perry said.
The New West Pride Festival has attracted such a buzz that organizers have heard from people who are booking flights, hotels and vacation time to attend the 2015 event.
Council hasn’t made any decision on the festival grants at this time.
“You did a really good job of bringing people to town and showcasing New Westminster, at the same time putting on a great event,” said Coun. Patrick Johnstone.
