Thousands take in night one of the Trenton Scottish Irish Festival (Photo: Sean Kelly/ Quinte News)
Pressures, both financially and on volunteers, have caused a re-think when it comes to a popular and longstanding fall event in the Quinte region.
The City of Quinte West and the volunteer organizing committee of the Trenton Scottish Irish Festival want to move away from the large and costly format of the last 3 years.
In 2015, the city itself got more involved with the Scottish Irish Festival and the event was enlarged in several ways with the most expensive change being the hiring of big name entertainers, such as Alan Doyle.
A recently written staff report notes that while attendance picked up for the bigger shows in 2015 and 2016, attendance was poor last year.
City taxpayers paid about $105,000 each year to support the festival since 2015.
When revenue was factored in, the Scottish Irish lost $35,000 in 2015, $39,000 in 2016, and over $70,000 last year.
The city’s staff report notes there were from frank discussions held after last fall’s event and it was strongly felt that big shows were not worth the extra effort and risk.
The 28th Trenton Scottish Irish Festival will be a more modest event next September, as it was for many years, prior to 2015.
