Go Green (Part Two)

 Throughout our travels to Ontario’s festivals and events, we have encountered some great “Green” ideas. Last week I spoke about the importance of Ontario festivals and events “Going Green”. This week and the next few weeks, I am going to share these ideas with you. (Please Note: the festival and event examples that I have mentioned are from my own experience. I know that there are many other festivals and events that offer the same or better “Green Solutions” I hope that they will contact me and let me know their ideas.)

Recycle Bins: I know that this is not a new or unique idea, but it is one of the first steps in “Going Green”. Unbelievably, there are still a number of events that do not recycle! Recycling is not the innovation, but how it’s done can be! Take Fanshawe Pioneer Village as an example, not only do they recycle, but they so it in a very unique way. Fanshawe is a heritage village and wants to depict the 1800’s as they were. So, having a bunch of blue recycle bins placed around their grounds would not help their authenticity! Instead, they have built a number of authentic looking structures that hold both garbage and recycling! The recycling is there and so is the heritage look! (See Photos)

Potable Water: More and more events are seeing plastic water bottles as a “waste”, both in the use of manufacturing energy and long term land fill. As a result, some festivals and events are bringing in large containers of potable water for their visitors. Although we haven’t visited the Hillside Folk Festival in Guelph yet, I understand that they have been doing this for a number of years. The Toronto Zoo has also brought in potable water.

Re-Usable Water Bottles: In conjunction with the potable water, both the Hillside Folk Festival and the Toronto Zoo are selling re-usable water bottles with their logos imprinted on them. They get two bonuses while helping preserve our planet, profit from the sale of the water bottles and advertising with the logo imprints.

Re-usable Plates and Cutlery: Some festivals are now only selling food on re-usable plates with re-usable cutlery. By doing this they are drastically reducing the amount of waste. The Shelter Valley Folk Festival does this and has been for a number of years. When their festival first began, they invested in plates, glasses and cutlery. Now all of their food vendors are required to us festivals plates and cutlery. Lang Pioneer Village at their Dine and Shine event offered a variation of this idea. They encouraged visitors to the event to bring their own plates and cutlery. All those that did had a chance to receive a great prize. This was a well received “Green Promotion”!

Go Green (Part One)

 I’ve talked about it before, but I believe that “Going Green” is not only the right thing to do, but it is also the smart thing to do! Jana Campbell, owner of LunchWithoutWaste.com and a leader in “Going Green Products”, tells us in her recent “Practical Tips on how to have a Litter-less Lunch” article, pointed out the trend that “more and more people are becoming conscious about how their everyday habits impact the future of the Earth”. Taking this point a further, the majority of festivals and events in Ontario have little or no “Green” agenda! I’ve been told the Ontario communities host about 5,000 festivals and events each year! That’s a lot of festivals and events not “Going Green”! Think of the millions of people who visit these events and how they are “impacting the Earth”! Image if just 25% of these festivals and events decided to implement a “Go Green” plan! The impact would be enormous! So, who should take the first step, the organizers or the communities? While it would be wonderful to think that festival and event organizers would jump at the chance to “Go Green”, I think the initiative will have to be taken by the various communities themselves. Hopefully if a community does put a “Green” policy in place, they will do it intelligently. What I mean by that is that communities should work with festival and event organizers to develop a long term implementation plan. I don’t believe a “Green” policy should be forced upon festivals and events immediately. I believe that they should be implemented over a period of time. Perhaps the Ontario Ministry of Tourism or Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) could take the lead in developing “Green Guidelines”. This would help municipalities and festival and event organizers develop their own “Green Policies”. It would be wonderful to see all Ontario festivals and events “Go Green”, but realistically, that is not going to happen. So, I think 25% would be a terrific start! I realize becoming “Green” will not happen overnight. There needs to be a “process”! There has to be a plan with short and long term goals and there has to be a commitment and then a start. So hopefully someone will hear my (our) plea and start the process. Our world is counting on it!

Next week I will outline some ideas to help Ontario festivals and events “Go Green”! I hope that you will join the dialogue and send me your ideas.

Search Me... (Part Two)

 The point of my story is that Judi and I had just missed visiting one of the best events of the year, and it was in our own backyard! This year had been special because it was the 100^th anniversary of powered flight in Canada! When I had looked earlier the previous month for festivals and event to visit that weekend, this event had not shown up on any of my usual festival and event sources! As a result, I am sorry to say, we missed it! Unfortunately, this happens all too often! Festivals and events are missed because they are not listed or easily found on the major festival and event source guides. This is one of the reasons we are creating our NEW Festival Finder search engine. We want to make sure that all festivals can be found. We know that this is a lofty idea, because it is going to take the co-operation of festival and event organizers. However, I do believe that it is possible to list the majority of Ontario’s festivals and events. Right now Judi has accumulated a list of over 1,000 festivals and events. There are reportedly over 5,000 in Ontario, so there is still a long way to go, but we are hoping through research and persistence and a little luck that we will find most of them by the end of the year. So once we have the search engine up and running (hopefully by mid-to-late August) we hope you will to go onto it and try to find your favourite festival or event. If you don’t, please let us know so that it can be added to our list of events.

Search Me… (Part One)

On our way back home from an event, we traveled along Highway #2. We reached Trenton at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Just as we reached the eastern outskirts of the city, we heard a roar overhead! There were two jets zooming above us! With Trenton Forces Base close by, we didn’t think much about it. However, just as we approached the Base, police diverted us north on a side road. We wondered if there had been an accident. As we drove up the road, a number of cars had pulled off to the side of the road. People were standing there, looking upwards, with binoculars to their eyes. I simply thought that they were simply watching Air Force planes take off and land. My father and I had done that many years ago at Toronto International Airport. Thinking nothing more, we followed other cars on the detour. We traveled north and then turned west and continued until we reached another road that took us south again and back to Highway #2. Just as we came parallel to the Base, hundred of people started to cross our road! The Trenton Air Show was now over!

(To be continued - Part Two)

Government Funding…

 Ever wonder why some festivals or events are awarded government funding, while others are not! Gary and I visited a festival in eastern Ontario and this topic was discussed. Many festival organizers, who have not received funding, may feel that it is not about what you have but who you know in the government. Having talked to a number of people about this subject, I just don’t believe that this is true. Too many festival and event organizers feel that they deserve funding just because of who they are or where they are located. This attitude just doesn’t cut it! Both the federal and Ontario provincial governments have developed great programs to help both new and established festivals financially. All that they ask is that organizers submit detailed business-like applications. After all, isn’t an organized professional plan what you need to hold a well-run successful event! If you were to apply for a business loan from a bank, they wouldn’t give you a loan just because you’re a nice person or you know the manager! They give loans based on the probability of success! So, why shouldn’t governments do the same! Festival and event funds are not unlimited. This being said, it stands to reason that the monies being given out need to be awarded to festivals and events with the best chance of success. My advice to any festivals or events looking for government funding, “don’t fight the system”! It is a losing battle! Instead, embrace the process and use it to plan and produce the best event possible! And, who knows, you’ll likely increase your chances of receiving government funding! Good Luck!

Crossing the Line…

 At what point do festival or event organizers “cross the line” putting profits (dollars) ahead of value for their attendees? I believe that some organizers eventually loose sight of the things that made their event successful. Most festivals and events in the beginning try to offer more to encourage people to visit their event, but what happens when the event becomes really successful over an extended period? Don’t get me wrong, I am all for events making a reasonable profit. After all, many events these days are managed and organized by non-profit groups and most of the money is put back into the community. For the most part profit allows organizers to gauge the success of their event. Nobody likes to work for nothing! That being said, when do festivals cross the line. I don’t think that there is a definitive answer, but I think this happens when organizers forget what made the event successful and start making poor judgment changes all for the sake of increased profits. This could include canceling popular activities or attractions or reducing advertising budgets. Obviously reducing or eliminating unnecessary items is prudent, but if profit is the only motivator and the event becomes less attractive as a result, I think this is wrong. A reasonable balance must be met. Here is an example of what I mean. I know of one festival that keeps raising its admission fees each year, even though their costs have not increased and they have not added value to their event. The increased fees were only a means to increase their profits. When do they stop? They wanted to prove to their community what great fundraisers they were, but what about patrons. The people who come back year after year to support their event? By only increasing admission fees and not providing anything new, aren’t they cheating those very people? And even worse, won’t this attitude eventually come back to haunt them? If this happens, everyone losses, the community, the organizations receiving funds, patrons, vendors, suppliers and ultimately even the organizers themselves! Raising money for the community is a very worthwhile endeavor, but not at the expense of integrity!

Road Blocks to Success… (Part 2)

Here is an idea to think about! Many festivals and events pay musical performers big money to come to their event! When they come, they give them the V.I.P. treatment. Why do events pay the big money? To draw crowds to the event! That’s the reason, pure and simply. While this may be necessary in some cases, there are other attractions that draw just as many people and perhaps more! I am talking about first class vendors. Why then do some festivals and events treat them like second class citizens? It just doesn’t make good business sense. Yet it does happen, and all too often! What is even odder, we charge these attractions a lot of money for the privilege of helping us draw people to our events! Most vendors don’t mind this, especially the good ones. They know that there could be a good payday for them if the event does well. But they are the ones taking all the chances, so why not treat them with respect, like the V.I.P.’s that they really are! If you want an example of how good vendors affect shows, just ask the organizers of the Buckhorn Festival of the Arts or the One of a Kid Show in Toronto! They thrive on attracting excellent participants. So, why the imbalance? Why do festival and event organizers and government regulators insist on creating so many “road blocks”? If festivals and events are the “backbone” of our communities, we owe it to ourselves to think of the consequences BEFORE we act! After all, community events need good participants more then good participants need the poor communities!