St. George's Blueberry Festival cancelled due to lack of volunteers, rising costs

After a milestone year in 2015, the flagship event of the annual Blueberry Festival in the western Newfoundland town of St. George's has been cancelled this year.

The festival, which usually takes place during the first weekend of August, typically featured a number of events with an outdoor concert as the main draw. This year, some of the smaller events such as the memorial run and pancake breakfast will still happen, but the concert has been scrapped.

St. George's Mayor Danny Conway said the main reason they decided to end the festival after 25 years is lack of volunteers and increasing costs of running it.

"Last year we were lucky we had a group of women that got together to do the 50th Come Home Year Celebrations, and the committee came together to handle it," he told CBC's Corner Brook Morning Show.

"But this year, the committee could not generate enough interest to run the festival, which is too bad. People used to plan their weddings and everything around coming home to this festival, and it's a big loss to the local businesses; the stores craft shops and museums and everything."

While organizers knew that volunteers were getting thinner with each year, 2015 was different because it was the 50th anniversary of the community, the 25th anniversary of the festival and St. George's Come Home Year.

As well, the same volunteers had been working the festival for a long time, and most of them are getting older and are simply unable to do the same amount of work that they once could.

Rising costs

Another variable leading to the festival's cancellation is the rising cost of putting off a show like the ones held in previous years.

Conway said the sound system alone had risen to more than $12,000, and insurance had grown from $7,500 to more than $100,000 over the 25-year life span of the festival.

He said the town is proud that it doesn't owe a cent for previous years. However there were times when unfortunate circumstances meant they did go in the red.

"One year we had a $35,000 loss at the end of the weekend when it rained, so we had to take the next five years to pay that off," he said. "I guess it's just a part of doing business with any festival," he said.

"We also had a big setback three years ago when someone burned down all the festival's equipment and materials. It was hard to keep going after that but we did manage to get three more years out of it."

Good memories

Despite having to give it up after 25 years, Conway said he still looks back fondly on the previous years when the festival was a major draw for the town.

"Over the years we had as as many as 3,000 people on the field at times. I think the Irish Descendants were the biggest crowd we ever had on the field," he said.

"It's a big loss to everyone around to see the festival go, for sure."