Underused concert venue causing concern
A Charlottetown councillor wants to know why Cavendish rocks year after year while the capital city’s outdoor venue sits quiet.
Coun. Mitchell Tweel said people are asking him why nothing is happening at the Charlottetown Event Grounds when the Cavendish Beach Music Festival continues to be a major success in attracting the biggest names in country music.
“This has been an ongoing challenge, I would suggest, for the past couple of years. The (Charlottetown outdoor) venue was constructed with the thought that major events would be hosted at the venue,’’ Tweel said following council’s regular public monthly meeting on Monday.
Tweel also questioned why The Tragically Hip’s final concert is being simulcast later this summer at Victoria Park, rather than at the event grounds.
He points to the $250,000 Special Events Reserve Fund (SERF) budget that exists to bring events to Charlottetown that attract people. That’s money collected from hotel and motel bookings.
“We have a facility that is not being utilized, and people in this city are asking questions why,’’ Tweel said.
There had been talk that local promoter Shift Management and Huka Entertainment were working on a show for the event grounds, but there has been no news and no comment from either party. That’s the group that brought Kim Mitchell and April Wine to Confederation Landing Park last summer.
The topic generated talk with The Guardian on social media Monday night.
“A very good question,’’ Jeff Smith told The Guardian in response to Tweel’s question of why the event grounds isn’t attracting big names lately.
Mayor Clifford Lee points out that the event grounds is owned by Charlottetown Area Development Corporation.
“The bottom line is concerts in Cavendish are a tremendous economic spinoff to the city. You talk to any hotel, motel operator in the city and they will tell you they were packed solid,’’ Lee said.
“We get all the economic spinoffs from that event and we don’t have to deal with the problems generated from a policing perspective.’’
Lee added that the city doesn’t want the entire $250,000 SERF budget going to a one-off concert.
Normally, the city contributes around $25,000 to a concert, nowhere near enough money for big-name talent.
Lee also points out that Whitecap Entertainment, which handles the Cavendish festival, is made up of private entrepreneurs who assume most of the financial risk.
“I’m not suggesting the (Charlottetown) site has been used as often as it should be. CADC created the infrastructure. It’s up to the private business community to use that space. It’s not up to the taxpayers of Charlottetown to put on a concert.’’
Wayne Long, the city’s events development officer, points to a weak Canadian dollar and highly competitive market place for why there haven’t been any big-name shows in Charlottetown this year. He also mentions that Moncton and Halifax, both big players for big shows in the past, aren’t booking anything lately.
“The U.S. dollar has really hurt the industry over the past year,’’ Long said.
When it was pointed out that the U.S. dollar doesn’t seem to be hurting Cavendish, Long suggested Cavendish has built itself into a strong brand and that Blake Shelton, who headlined Saturday’s show, likely negotiated a deal with Cavendish when the dollar was stronger (Shelton was scheduled to play Cavendish in 2014 when a storm cancelled the show).
“Our event attraction efforts are constantly ongoing in the marketplace, and we speak to promoters regularly,’’ Long said.
“The city corporation is not in the business of executing concerts and bearing the (financial) risk.’’