Local fairs and festivals struggling due to lack of volunteers
Several local fairs and festivals are calling off their upcoming events due to a lack of volunteers. Meanwhile one festival is thriving.
The Mount Forest Fall Fair is one of many that had to cancel this year’s event.
“It's sad to see the end of an era,” Wellington North Mayor Andy Lennox said. “Unfortunately after 160 years the fall fair will not happen in Mount Forest because we don't have the Agriculture Society or volunteer organization to make it happen.”
It’s a situation that’s not unique to Mount Forest.
The Brantford Kinsmen Rib Fest was also forced to call off this summer's event.
“I mean everybody wants these events to happen in the summer, but nobody seems to want to contribute to be able to make them happen,” said Jeffery Hardin, the entertainment coordinator at the Brantford Kinsmen Rib Fest.
Paired with the lack of a suitable location, getting volunteers has been a struggle.
“It makes me feel exhausted but it stresses us out a bit and it makes the few people that we do have involved wear five or six or seven different hats in putting this event together,” Harding said.
The Norfolk County Agricultural Society said they understand that feeling.
“The volunteer base is aging and I think a lot of those people were uncomfortable coming out of COVID to get back into things,” said Angela Hogeveen the general manager at the Norfolk County Agricultural Society.
The Norfolk County fairgrounds festival is not only staying alive, but finding a way to thrive.
Some of that funding is coming from the municipality through a program called Amplify Norfolk – an initiative that supports numerous live events in Norfolk. It has stirred up a lot of community interested with planned performances from groups like The Beaches, Finger Eleven, Sloan and Bif Naked.
The acts have helped recruit younger volunteers.
“I mean without that support, it wouldn't be possible,” said Hogeveen.
The goal is to: “to attract tourists to Norfolk County through live entertainment events and generate spillover effects for Norfolk businesses, establishing Norfolk County as a premiere destination for live entertainment in Ontario,” their website said.
Without proper access to funding and volunteers, the fall of fairs and festivals could be a sign of the future.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
Parliamentary report on Emergencies Act decision is 18 months past due — and counting
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.