The committee organizing this year’s Sea Cavalcade in Gibsons is looking to the Town for a little extra help.
The Town already gives the festival about $16,000 every year, but it’s mainly to cover the cost of the fireworks display. The Town also helps with logistics and donates staff time.
The issue this year is the ever-increasing cost of liability insurance. The Sea Cavalcade Committee says it’s now over $8,000.
In a letter to the mayor and council the organizers said, “Each year we are finding it more and more difficult to get contributions/donations/sponsorships. Like a lot of non-profit organizations, our income from that has been continually dropping; the Sunshine Coast can’t afford to give and keep giving to all groups that ask for help. We are asking the Town of Gibsons to help us to cover all or part of the cost of the liability insurance. … We know it is a lot to ask, but without your help the festival is not going to survive another year.”
Co-chair Jon Glencross appeared at a March 29 committee of the whole meeting, where he thanked the Town for its history of help with the Cavalcade, and made the case for a little extra this year.
“It is a large festival … it does bring in a large number of visitors, it does bring a lot of revenue to the Coast,” Glencross said, adding that the core group of volunteers is very dedicated but doesn’t have the capacity right now to raise all the money the festival needs. “The one thing we do have is a passion for Sea Cavalcade, and we hope to see it carry on,” he said.
Mayor Wayne Rowe promised the Town would look into what it can do to help. He also said council wanted to look over the organizing committee’s financial reports as well.
This year’s Sea Cavalcade is July 23 and 24, and organizers say they expect the visit of the sailing ship HMCS Oriole to be one of the highlights. The Oriole was last in Gibsons in 2006.
