With only a few days to spare, the City of Grande Prairie has approved $100,000 in funding for the Bear Creek Folk Festival. It’s from the Large Scale Tourism Fund, from which the Grande Prairie Stompede has also received $75,000.
The City first created the new fund in 2017, allocating $200,000 for festivals and sporting events that attract at least 35 per cent of their audience from places more than 100 kilometres away. Four events initially applied this year, but the East Coast Garden Party withdraw after it was cancelled. The Grande Prairie Children’s Festival also pulled out after criteria changes.
The folk festival runs August 17th to 19th in Muskoseepi Park. Producer Sarah Card has said they may be able to break even this year, which she considers impressive for their third year. The Stompede lost $360,000 in revenue in 2016, and received a $50,000 Large Scale Tourism grant in 2017.