Edmonton festivals struggle to stay afloat amid ‘economic pressures’
Global News
The Edmonton Blues Festival announced they will be taking a pause in 2025 due to high operating costs and the loss of their usual location.
Edmonton is known as Canada’s Festival City but producers say it’s been a struggle lately to hold onto that identity.
According to some organizers, the rising costs of operating events have put the arts in jeopardy.
One festival has announced they won’t be returning next summer.
The Edmonton Blues Festival said it will be taking a pause in 2025 due to high operating costs. The group says since they’ve had to relocate to another venue, production costs have risen by 40 to 60 per cent.
The festival usually operates at Hawrelek Park, but the park is in the middle of a three-year planned closure to undergo refurbishment work.
“Combined with decreasing sponsorship and lagging ticket sales as blues fans deal with these same economic pressures, we are in a position where raising ticket prices to the level required to make our festival sustainable would also make it unavailable to many Blues Hounds,” Edmonton Blues Festival producer Cam Hayden said in a statement posted on their website.
The statement noted that economic pressures are affecting other festivals in Edmonton as well.
“Many more festivals are facing this economic reality and closing their doors or scaling back significantly,” the statement added.
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