Lieutenant governor dropped from Winter Festival name
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/12/2015 (3911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Brandon’s annual winter festival has undergone a major organizational revamp ahead of the January 2016 cultural celebration — but organizers say the event itself will remain unchanged.
For starters, the festival has parted ways with its title sponsor, Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon, and will no longer be called the Lieutenant Governor’s Winter Festival.
“When we chatted with her, it was very cordial,” event chair Richard Bruce said. “I think every once in a while when the lieutenant-governors come in, they start to audit different things. This has been 13 years and it really is time that it became a community affair.”
During their conversation, Filmon told Bruce she still supports the event and will attend its opening ceremonies when she can. However, Filmon will not be at the 2016 event, which runs Jan. 28-30, as she will be in Winnipeg marking the centennial of women’s right to vote in Manitoba on Jan. 28.
Bruce says the name change won’t affect funds available for next year’s festival, but it will allow for more freedom if the board decides to expand its reach and create new cultural events in the city.
“It gives us an opportunity to do other cultural groups within the community,” Bruce said. “If this grows to do other educational or cultural things, you always have to go back to the patron to get permission to do that.”
The second major change is that the festival has made an agreement with the city and will move forward as an independent incorporated not-for-profit organization.
This means any future funding from the city will be in the way of grants.
“That’s not a for sure thing anymore, we have to apply for that … the (Grants Review Committee) could reduce it or increase it or leave it the same,” Bruce said.
The 2016 festival has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the city. In the past, the City of Brandon gave $1,000 to each pavilion and allocated staff to work on the event.
Bruce estimates the festival will cost upwards of $40,000 to put on and the rest of the funds will be found via sponsorship.
Next year’s three-day
event will have 10 pavilions celebrating Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Métis, English, Honduran, Mauritian, Chinese and Brazilian cultures as well as a global village.
Bruce says there will not be a First Nations pavilion for the second year in a row because Dakota Nation Winterfest again lands on the same weekend.
Anyone interested in volunteering can sign up at lgwf.ca following the holidays.
» ewasney@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @evawasney