Lethbridge Herald

Whoop-Up Days latest casualty of COVID-19

Hospitalit­y industry being hit hard

- Tim Kalinowski LETHBRIDGE HERALD

With the official cancellati­on of WhoopUp days this summer due to provincial restrictio­ns on large gatherings while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, it is likely other large gatherings and festivals will soon follow suit and be cancelled as well, predicts Trevor Lewington, CEO of

Economic Developmen­t Lethbridge and co-chair of the Lethbridge Economic Recovery Task Force. This will aggravate the challenges already afflicting a beleaguere­d local tourism and hospitalit­y industry, he says.

“At this point, it’s not just the festivals,” Lewington states. “Most tourism in Lethbridge is actually people visiting family and friends; so people coming from other parts of Western Canada to visit their families in Lethbridge is a big driver of our tourism market. So if there are still gathering restrictio­ns, and travel restrictio­ns, or even the Chief Medical Officer of Health talked about discouragi­ng people from travelling from province to province.

“I think the tourism sector is going to see some of the biggest pain in this whole thing. And how you support them (as a municipali­ty) is challengin­g. You can only buy so many hotel gift cards.”

Exhibition Park CEO Rudy Friesen says Whoop-Up Days creates about $5 million in economic spin-off revenue in the community, and usually includes employing a casual staff for the five-day event of about 250 people. And that is just what Exhibition Park employs, says Friesen, and does not take into account the festival staff brought in by partners like the midway operators or the rodeo.

“Given the situation we are in, and given the informatio­n that was shared by the provincial health officer Thursday afternoon, we certainly didn’t have too much choice in the decision we made,” he says. “It is very difficult to say we are not going to have our annual summer fair.”

Friesen says since the basis of

Exhibition Park’s existence is bringing people together, and if gathering restrictio­ns remain in place, then likely there will not be much activity at the park for the foreseeabl­e future.

“We’re in the midst of serious considerat­ions to layoffs to our fulltime employees given the fact we will likely be fairly quiet here for the summer,” Friesen confirms.

Friesen says they are working on a potential plan to open the farmers’ market with the right physical distancing and sanitizing protocols in place, and are in discussion­s with the Rocky Mountain Turf Club about the potential for horse racing this summer. The farmers’ market might be the easier of the two things to deliver, he admits.

“We’re talking with race officials on a regular basis,” Friesen confirms. “Of course they have gathering and distancing issues as well they have to deal with just in preparatio­n for the event here in the backstretc­h, and they are struggling with that. We are trying to work closely with Horse Racing Alberta to figure out exactly how that would look, and if we can make that happen.”

Both Lewington and Friesen admit we are in uncharted territory with COVID-19 and no one is sure how to deal with it in terms of Lethbridge’s hospitalit­y and tourism landscape.

“Even if we do see some of those restrictio­ns lifted in other areas, and other businesses will be able to open, the impact from the cancellati­on of large events and gatherings is going to bite,” says Lewington.

Friesen says his knowledge the only other times the summer rodeo and fair have been cancelled in Exhibition Park’s 123-year history was during the world wars when the facility was commandeer­ed for Canadian military purposes to support the war effort.

“Those are the only times I am aware that Whoop-Up Days has been cancelled,” he says. “So this cancellati­on does have that historical significan­ce when you think that the only other times it has been cancelled is for those war efforts; that’s where we’re at in terms of historical significan­ce of this COVID outbreak.”

Follow @TimKalHera­ld on Twitter

 ?? Herald file photo by Ian Martens ?? Fairgoers make their way past the lights of the row of fair games during last year’s Whoop-Up Days. Exhibition Park has announced this year's festival will be cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. @IMartensHe­rald
Herald file photo by Ian Martens Fairgoers make their way past the lights of the row of fair games during last year’s Whoop-Up Days. Exhibition Park has announced this year's festival will be cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. @IMartensHe­rald

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