Rent reduced for riders, early budget items approved by Regina Council
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Regina's city council covered a lot of ground in a three-hour meeting on Wednesday. With all members in attendance, coun...
It’s hard to imagine a summer without Taste of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
That might happen next summer.
The curveball came up during budget deliberations Tuesday.
Councillor Zach Jeffries brought up the conversation when he noticed the 2020 budget did not include funding for the event.
SaskTel Centre executive director and CEO Will Lofdahl explained why.
“City administration would like to take Kiwanis Park off-line for a year to refurbish the plant life within the park,” said Lofdahl. “So, because of that we’re looking at not doing Taste of Saskatchewan this year.”
The city’s general manager of community services, Lynn Lacroix, says they’re working with SaskTel Centre about other possible locations, possibly even a permanent downtown festival site.
Lofdahl also mentioned that several restaurants that took part in this year’s festival lost money.
“To pick a location that we’re not sure about success, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea and then have them lose money for two years in a row,” said Lofdahl.
“The thought we’re thinking of now is maybe resting the event for a year and then find a good location for it, hopefully Kiwanis Park. So when we come back and rejuvenate the event and the restaurateurs are not losing a lot of money like they did this past year. Two years in a row would not be a good thing. We’d lose a lot of restaurants going forward.”
Tourism Saskatoon president, Todd Brandt said it’s disappointing news, but he understands the reasoning. He adds, the location is what made the event tick.
“Kiwanis Memorial Park, for many years has been providing the ambiance and access for the noon-hour business crowd which makes or breaks that event.”
Brandt said Tourism Saskatoon will focus on existing events.
“There are other events that exist, like YXEats, and there are programs we’re working on for cuisine tourism or food tours in Saskatoon — but nothing of the magnitude — when you’re talking about 80,000 people gathering and being entertained in Saskatoon,” said Brandt.
Thirty-one restaurants took part in this past summer’s festival.