There has been no bumps in the road when it comes to funding of marketing for festivals and events in the area. In April, the now former Executive Director of the Grande Prairie Regional Tourism Association Ainsley LaMontagne presented sent a letter to the Minister of Culture and Tourism which voiced concerns about cuts made to funding.
City of Grande Prairie Economic Development Manager Brian Glavin says the proposed cuts were for any festival that has been around the region for more than three years.
“The letter essentially was about the changes that were being proposed for cuts to cooperative marketing dollars that Travel Alberta was accepting applications for and helping events or festivals around the province to co-market their event.”
There were concerns raised about losing festivals with the changes.
“The government took a softer approach to how they were managing this. More or less, any of the festivals that applied did end up receiving funding under the program. It didn’t end up being a big issues over the course of the summer.”
Glavin adds that although the government didn’t follow through with many changes this past season, he isn’t sure if all the worries about changes are gone for the future.
In the year 2014 to 2015, there was around $350,000 spent on marketing by festival organizers.