‘Cancelled never crossed our minds’
How will the 2020 edition of Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest look?
WATERLOO REGION — How do you run a parade with proper physical distancing?
“We’ve got some options, believe it or not,” said Alfred Lowrick, executive director of Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, who hopes to have much clearer take on what the 2020 edition of the annual festival and Thanksgiving Day parade will look like in about a month’s time.
The idea of Onkel Hans sporting a face mask for this year’s pin isn’t out of the question. Elbow-to-elbow, suds-splashing ceremonies, probably are.
Like most businesses, tourist attractions and special events, K-W Oktoberfest, the region’s largest annual festival with economic spinoffs estimated at $22 million, has been taking a wait-and-see approach due to the ever-evolving rules and restrictions related to COVID-19.
Unlike Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, that’s already been cancelled for 2020, the Bavarian bash in Waterloo re- gion is “decentralized” and ultimately depends on what’s feasible for its various operators and festhalls.
According to Lowrick, some of the region’s largest venues such as the Concordia Club are willing to wait until the 11th hour.
“The word cancelled has never crossed our minds,” he said. “We will do something, even if it’s something small, we will do something for the festival to keep our brand going and give back to the community.”
Lowrick said recently organizers will be using all resources at their disposal, but that the pandemic will surely cause them to scale back celebrations.
“It will not be what we’ve experienced in the past, but a lot of it is wait and see at this point,” he said. “It will be public health that will dictate what we can and cannot do.”
It was just days before the pandemic started impacting daily life in North America in March that the festival’s board of directors reported that it had reached a crisis situation after receiving a third-party review of the nonprofit organization’s financial records, which revealed it lost close to half a million dollars over the past three years.
Many people don’t realize that Oktoberfest is essentially an umbrella organization that acts as a facilitator and doesn’t profit from many of the parties, Lowrick said.
In April, the organization put its head office in downtown Kitchener up for sale for just above $1.8 million and committed to finding a more suitable home.
It’s also been trying to find ways to better connect with a younger, more diverse population in recent years and had some new events in the works for 2020.
However with local post-secondary institutions planning to take classes online this fall, the festival will lose a substantial portion of its younger demographic who won’t be residing in the area.
Explore Waterloo Region’s chief executive officer Minto Schneider said the same goes for restaurants, bars and hotels. She banded with other destination marketing organizations in asking the province to reopen regionally.
In a presentation before the province’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs last Thursday, Schneider asked that her industry be provided clear information about the reopening process, including restrictions and capacity guidelines.
About 80 per cent of tourism businesses are reporting significant disruption to cash flow and many are facing insurmountable debt levels, Schneider highlighted.
This year might allow Oktoberfest to hit the pause button or make some tough decisions about its annual festival that some say finally need to be made. This is also the year that everyone has to come together, she said.
“People are looking for a way to celebrate and if certainly they’re looking for it now, they’re going to be doubly looking for it in September/October.”
Lowrick plans to meet with operators shortly to see where they’re at collectively and make some sort of decision on what the festival will look like come July.
“If Stage 2 of reopening is indeed 50 per cent occupancy, does that provide an environment for what we expect as Oktoberfest?” Lowrick wonders.
“We’re also looking at what happens if there’s a second wave (of COVID-19) and be cognizant of the fact we could be in worse situation than we have right now. We need to do things that can be both executed and changed.”