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Summer events cancelled in Longview

Associations agree not to host Little New York Daze and Longstock Music and Arts Festival in light of COVID-19.
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The Blonde and the Bluesmen performs at a previous Longstock Music and Arts Festival. The Longview event has been cancelled this summer in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Wheel File Photo)

Two much-anticipated summer events that draw hundreds of tourists to a small Foothills village have been cancelled.

Members of the Little New York Daze Association and Longstock Music Association in Longview decided last week not to go ahead with their summer events in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longstock Music Association vice-president Jess Waterman-Hals said volunteers spent the past several weeks going through band submissions and submitting paperwork for a liquor licence, but it doesn’t make sense to put more time or money into planning while cases of COVID-19 continue to climb in Alberta. The association is now reimbursing those who purchased tickets and paid for vendor spots.

“This is a huge musical community so everybody looks forward to it and it sucks that we have to cancel it at a time when people could do with a festival,” she said. “The virus has taken away a lot from all of us. It’s disappointing.”

Waterman-Hals said several factors were considered in making the decision to cancel the August festival including the lack of support the association will get from businesses as many closed their doors and the potential to lose money while planning for the event if communities are mandated to cancel their summer events due to social distancing protocols. The festival draws hundreds of people to Smith-Fuller Centennial Park each year to watch local bands perform and buy local art in the artisan market.

“When Calgary made the announcement that all events until June 30 are cancelled we thought it’s safer this way,” Waterman-Hals said of the decision to cancel. “We did not come to this decision lightly.”

The association reached out to members of the Little New York Daze Association last week to see what they decided as Waterman-Hals said they share a lot of the same volunteers. After learning the association decided to cancel its July event, Waterman-Hals said the Longstock Music Association agreed it made sense to do the same.

Cancelling the 13th annual two-day festival will be a big loss to the community, which Waterman-Hals said is a big money-maker for businesses.

“As far as I know Longstock is the biggest weekend for revenue for the village,” she said. “It’s a big deal for the community and brings 1,000 to 1,500 people. I have people emailing me in December and January asking for the date because they want to put in their holidays at work.”

The decision to cancel Little New York Daze was unanimous, according to Little New York Daze Association president Sean McCarthy.

“It’s a financial thing,” he said. “We have limited funds and we pretty much start putting deposits down in the coming months so we can’t afford to give all that money away and not be able to recoup.”

McCarthy said the association didn’t make its usual profit last year after having to cancel several activities last minute after paying deposits due to a rainy Saturday on parade day. It also raised less money than usual during recent fundraisers, he said.

“It was as tough decision,” he said. “A lot of people put a lot of heart into this. It’s all about the kids for us.”

McCarthy estimates that the two-day outdoor event, which includes a parade, children’s games and activities and art show on Saturday and breakfast, church service, barbecue, musical entertainment, art show, beer gardens and car show on Sunday, attracts about 400 people to the village each year.

“It generates a lot of income for the shops and artisans in our area,” he said. “Cancelling it is a real blow.”

McCarthy said if social distancing regulations are lifted this summer, the association may host a small scale-scale event like a barbecue and fireworks.

“People aren’t going to have a whole lot of money if they’re out of work so we can't do anything big,” he said. “The government is trying to help but it’s going to take people months to recoup. They’re not going to buy a print for $90 when they’re trying to get their savings account back up.”

For updated information, follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.

Tammy Rollie, OkotoksToday.ca

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