'50 per cent' chance Taste of Saskatchewan will be back in 2020, organizer says

An organizer for Taste of Saskatchewan says there's only a "50 per cent" chance the annual Saskatoon food event will be back for 2020.

While no decision to call off the event for next year has been made, Scott Ford, one of the event's organizers, said no viable alternative site to Kiwanis Park has emerged as a location for the festival.

Wet weather has taken a toll on the park, which Ford says is otherwise ideal, given its shade and ease of access for customers and vendors.

"Kiwanis Park is the preferred site, there's no question about that. If we have to move off the site, we'd probably rest Taste of Saskatchewan for a year," Ford told CBC News Tuesday.

An update on the festival's uncertain prospects for 2020 came Monday during Budget 2020 talks at city hall, though the festival has been searching for another site since last summer.

Once Kiwanis Park is available again, "we would start up [there] again," Ford said.

• Taste of Saskatchewan eyeing alternative site for 25th year

As for finding an alternative site in time for 2020, "we haven't really found something that we think would be as good for the customer and for the operational plan," Ford said.

Next year would mark the festival's 25th year.

City mulling catch-all festival site

The festival's search for a new site dovetails with a like-minded initiative at the city.

In 2020, the city will conduct a feasibility study, functional design process and location search for a permanent outdoor festival site in the city's downtown core.

The city has budgeted $75,000 for this effort.