Springlicious blooms again in Falls
Cue the brew, it’s Springlicious time in downtown Niagara Falls.
The usual crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 is expected to attend Queen Street’s biggest annual event Friday to Sunday, now in its 11th year. And organizer Zoran Medak is hoping a new committee can bring new energy to the festival. To that end, downtown company Moonbase was brought aboard to “rebrand” Springlicious for 2017.
“Giving it more of its own unique look,” he says. “We wanted to build an energy, a sense of community, cohesion.
“No other festival looks like Springlicious does.”
Variety is the key this year, he adds. Different food, music and vendors will fill the street for all three days.
“And increased targeting for families. That’s the market we want to capture.”
That means the carnival will be back, but the open alcohol policy for the entire street — introduced in 2013 — will be gone. Alcohol will be limited to a designated area near the main stage by city hall.
Medak says many business along Queen Street weren’t happy with the open policy, which allowed people to stroll the street with drink in hand.
“(They say) it brought a lot of drunk people into their businesses, so we’re focusing on giving the
bars their limelight,” he says.
It was also a “liability” issue, having to watch for alcohol as people entered and exited the fenced-off street.
Thunder Bay’s eclectic Coleman Hell will be the festival’s headliner on Saturday, following Lowest of the Low last year. Local bands playing the festival include Avenue Inn, The Natrolites and The Madhatters.
Springlicious began in 2007 as way to bring crowds back to downtown. The first year featured a free concert by April Wine, and over the next decade it has maintained its popularity among locals.
Despite the changes, Medak says some “basic elements” of Springlicious — the free concerts, the food vendors, etc. — had to remain.
“I’ve been to it twice,” he says. “I just like that there was something happening (downtown), and I like when the locals have something to do as well.”