Salmon Festival 2014 change broadsides charity regatta

The organizers of a charity event in central Newfoundland say they are losing out because of a late date change for the 2014 Salmon Festival.

The festival concert was originally set for July 12, but in May that date was changed to July 5.

The revised slot means it will clash with the Lewisporte Yacht Club's annual charity regatta.

Regatta organizers had initially booked their date to make sure they weren’t competing with the biggest show of the summer.

“We’re doing this for charity, and we’re trying to minimize expenses,” chair Mac Moss told CBC News.

“So changing the date means changing all the literature, contacting all your sponsors. It’s a bit of frustration.”

The regatta has raised $242,000 for local health foundations over the past seven years, according to Moss.

He is concerned donations will drop this year because of the scheduling conflict, but says it’s too late to pick a new time.

“We plan this starting in November, and we have to bring our sponsors onboard and so on, so you can't really change your date at the last minute,” Moss said.

As for the future, Moss has a simple solution.

“Pick a date, and stick to it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Al Hawkins can only offer apologies.

“I think, when we look at the magnitude of our concert and what we're looking at when we had to make that decision, I think the decision was easily made that we would switch the weekend,” Hawkins said.

This year’s Salmon Festival features headliners Maroon 5.