A paddleboard race, a markedly local entertainment roster and a torchlight parade minus the usual politicians were notable features of the Spirit of the Sea Festival for 2012.
And although numbers of attendees were down from projected figures – in spite of blue skies and blazing sun Saturday and Sunday – festival director Matt Todd said this week that he counts this year’s edition of the community volunteer-run event as “a great success.”
“Everybody seemed to be having fun and all the events were successfully deployed,” he said Tuedsay.
Todd acknowledged, however, that attendance was “actually pretty low” – by rough estimates some 40,000 people over the weekend as opposed to the 60,000 anticipated.
“I have no idea why that was,” he said.
“There were a number of other events in the Lower Mainland on the same days, and, with the incredibly hot weather, people might have been off visiting other vacation spots.”
Todd also guessed that, even with shuttle service to the beach from uptown parking lots, uncertainty over parking and accessibility may have deterred other potential visitors.
But Todd said he was pleased at the way Saturday’s pared-down torchlight parade came together, even though a shortage of volunteers meant that nobody was specifically detailed to organize it until two weeks before the festival.
Acknowledging that this year’s parade was “an experiment,” he said he was pleased by the success of efforts – in partnership with White Rock RCMP – to keep Marine Drive traffic flowing freely until shortly before the parade began on Saturday night.
“I was shooting for a parade that was half an hour long and it ended up being 45 minutes,” Todd said, adding that he feels that parades in previous years, sometimes topping an hour and a half, have been far too long.
The absence of local politicians in this year’s parade – noted by some observers – was not a political statement, Todd hastened to add.
“One of the early decisions was to take out all of the parade entries that were just people sitting in cars – and that’s mostly elected people – to concentrate on actual floats and marching bands,” he said.
Consultations with local politicians’ offices prior to the parade revealed some disappointment, but a willingness to co-operate to streamline the parade, he said.
“They understood, but (South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale MP) Russ Hiebert has already promised to make a full float for next year. (Surrey White-Rock MLA) Gordon Hogg said he’s going to be making an extra special effort to have a really cool vehicle for the parade – and I think next year we’ll have the mayor as parade marshall.”
Among other highlights of the festival for Todd were the inaugural paddleboard race on Sunday, which drew some 60 competitors.
“We were thinking if we had 20 we’d be happy,” he said. “It was fantastic – and the excitement on the water was electric.”
Todd said an emphasis on local entertainers was originally a cost-cutting measure, as Spirit of the Sea organizing body the Community of Lights Society had only been able to raise some $40,000 for an event which has basic startup and logistical costs of around $30,000.
But he said he was impressed by the desire of local performers and technical staff who “basically worked for food” or provided their services as a complete donation.
“Phil Davey (of Q Sound) volunteering his sound equipment chopped $10,000 off our budget right there,” he said.
But the result – co-ordinated by Jim Black and Davey – turned out to be a rich roster of entertainment, Todd said.
“It made it a little more special – it was friends and neighbours performing for you and it fit perfectly.
Todd said almost 100 vendors and community groups with booths contributed “a lot of energy and a lot of colour” to the festival, while fire dancers at the parade added “an extra bit of flair to the fireworks”.
“They were a real crowd pleaser and I’m really happy with that,” Todd said, adding that the festival is always a work in progress, with a lot of trial and error along the way.
“We learn something every year we do the festival. If something doesn’t work it’s ‘let’s not do that again’ and if something works really well that we weren’t expecting, it’s ‘let’s do that again, and make it intentional next time.'”
