Poor turnout won't dampen spirit at Greely Carnival, Association may change dates next year
Posted Feb 9, 2012 By Emma JacksonEMC News - Greely Community Association president Bruce Brayman said the Greely Winter Carnival was a success despite low turnout on the Jan. 28 and 29 weekend.
"Everything we did went great and we had a fantastic time," said Brayman, who admitted that "volume was light" at the poker tournament on Thursday night, the teen dance on Friday night, Firemen's breakfast on Saturday morning and the Lions' breakfast on Sunday morning.
The weekend-long sculpture event, new this year, was cancelled at the last minute because the snow quality was so poor.
"We conferred on Thursday, and it was hard on top and granular," he said. "You couldn't do much with it."
Greely Idol was well attended, however, with nearly all 30 spots filled for the Saturday auditions.
The Sunday finals drew many family members to fill the Greely Community Centre where most of the carnival's events were held.
Brayman said he thinks three things contributed to the low turnout: the NHL All-Stars events in downtown Ottawa, poor marketing, and Manotick's winter carnival Shiverfest happening on the same weekend.
"Shiverfest is on the same weekend, so we lost some Riverside South and Manotick people that we used to get," he said.
He said the association may consider changing the carnival's dates next year so it won't have to compete with Manotick's well-established festival.
"It has crossed my mind. I don't think (our event) is entrenched enough that it should be a big issue to move it," he said.
He said he has also recruited a community member to focus more on marketing the event next year.
emma.jackson@metroland.com
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