[ISL] "The Summerside Lobster Festival is facing murky waters"

[rfmcdonald]

The Guardian's Nancy MacPhee reports on the troubles facing the Summerside Lobster Festival. As someone who has enjoyed it the last two times I've been on the Island, I hope it finds a way forward.

It’s an event the City of Summerside took over three years ago, saving it from extinction, but is now looking at possibly turning back over to the community.

The future of the Lobster Festival was debated for almost 40 minutes at Monday’s council meeting, with no clear direction at the end of the discussion about what a future festival might look like and who should be running it.

Bob Ashley, the city’s chief administrative officer, with community services director JP Desrosiers at his side, questioned council on what they see as the festival’s future.

“The impression I get is you all see this as a significant event,” Ashley said at the onset of the debate, adding that it is part of “the DNA” of the city. “How are we going to do it and how much is it going to cost?”

Currently, the Lobster Festival is without an executive director, with the departure of Don Quarles, who was in the position full-time.

The 2016 festival was over budget by $21,000, leaving planning for 2017 in a deficit, with no guarantees of government backing and continued sponsorship support.

“Frankly, there is no seed money to continue to grow the festival,” said Desrosiers.