The Canadian Tulip Festival will abandon the NCC this year, teaming up with downtown business communities to stage festivities in restaurants, parks and on the streets.
Typically, the festival hosts events at Major’s Hill Park and Commissioner’s Park every May. But this month, organizers announced that future programming would not take place on NCC parkland – where one million tulips are still set to bloom this spring – but at various business areas across the city.
The unexpectedly high cost of hosting events on the parkland is why the festival ended their 59-year relationship with the NCC, says David Luxton, volunteer chair and financial patron of the Canadian Tulip Festival.
“It’s just too expensive to operate there. The costs keep going up.”
Luxton says the festival’s budget is about $2 million, receiving grants from the City of Ottawa, Heritage Canada and the Ontario government.
The government of Ontario announced that they would hand the festival a $350,000 grant March 21, meaning that the Tulip Festival's funding requirements have been largely satisfied.
Prior to any festival on NCC property, organizers need to hand over a “performance bond” – an estimated fee for restoring the land back to its original condition once the events are complete. The amount varies and depends on such things as the weather, the size of the festival, its length, and the overall damages it creates.
Jean Wolff, a spokesperson for the NCC, said the festival’s restoration fees ended up being $9,000 more than the projected performance bond last year. This may have frustrated the festival officials, but the NCC is always helpful and lenient with these costs, he says.
“NCC staff has made numerous recommendations about ways to mitigate … the cost of the work that would need to be done after the festival,” he says. “The Canadian Tulip Festival has also enjoyed an exemption from the basic permit fees of using NCC parks.”
But Luxton says the NCC doesn’t always cooperate.
At a financial negotiation for this year’s 60th-anniversary festival, the NCC added “tens of thousands of dollars at the last minute,” refusing to issue the necessary permit unless the festival agreed to the new terms, he says.
“I don’t know why the NCC would be making a statement that it’s only $9,000 more, that is just silly,” Luxton says. “They know perfectly well that that’s not the case.”
Both Luxton and Wolff say the issue of high fees could not be resolved, even after months of discussion.
Luxton, who started considering a “community-based festival” last fall, says the new collaborative approach will not only benefit the local economy but also save money and resources for the festival, allowing organizers to provide funding and organizational assistance to community areas.
“There will be a lot more pageantry, a lot more going on in many more locations, and a lot more community talent will be showcased,” he says. “This is truly going to make it more of a community festival that is a lot more visible to visitors.”
Luxton says he has received positive feedback from business improvement areas.
Shirley Fang, executive assistant of the Somerset Street Chinatown Business Improvement Area, says her board started brainstorming ways to attract crowds to her area as soon as organizers contacted her in December.
Solar lanterns will decorate Somerset Street, artists will perform and display their crafts, and Chinatown businesses will bloom tulips and host special events, she says.
“We are very happy to partner with the Tulip Festival to celebrate its 60th anniversary,” she says. “It’s a win-win for businesses as it not only attracts the local clients but the tourism market as well.”
Other downtown business groups, such as Preston Street, Sparks Street, Westboro Village and the Byward Market, have also expressed an interest in participating in the festival’s new direction.
Luxton says the festival’s preliminary plan includes growing more tulips throughout participating business areas, transferring visitors to events by shuttle bus, and coordinating the international pavilion – a festival mainstay that features ethnic performers and cuisine at Major’s Hill Park – into one business area.The pavilion may be located somewhere in Little Italy, as local businesses have indicated to the festival that they want the added business the festival could generate.
Similar to Winterlude, most programming will be free to the public, he says.
“Some specifics of the 2012 festival remain a work in progress at this date, with more still to be done with BIAs and other community partners,” Luxton says.
He adds that the final lineup and details for this year’s festival will be released in late March or early April.
“But the enthusiasm and ideas I’ve heard from many of the BIAs and other partners encourage me to believe that there will be interesting added attractions animating the National Capital Region at tulip time.”
Attracting about 500,000 tourists to the city each year, the festival will run from May 4 to 12, 2012.