Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish is offering the Town’s help to organize a “transition” event this summer after the organizing committee behind Sea Cavalcade announced that it was cancelling the event after 50 years.
In a letter to council and local media, the committee said they “no longer have the skilled, dedicated volunteers coming on board to learn and complete the many, many tasks that have been needed to stage past Sea Cavalcades.”
“After 50 years it would be a shame if it stops totally and it would be nice if even we just had a placeholder of an event this year that recognized Sea Cavalcade,” Beamish said during the April 2 council meeting, with several members of the Sea Cavalcade Society board in the audience.
“We have maintained our commitment in the budget for the fireworks. There’s a number of people who’ve expressed interest in other aspects of Sea Cavalcade – the [Keats to Armours Beach] swim, the parade – recognizing that this could be an opportunity for a transition year.”
Coun. David Croal also said he wanted to find a way to help Sea Cavalcade continue.
Croal said he’s been around for 40 Sea Cavalcades and “been involved with them to varying degrees” including as a member of the crew of the Beachcombers TV series, which put filming on hold during the festival so the production team could help with the festival.
“It was felt by CBC and the film unit that it was that important to the community that we should jump into it feet first… I think one year we had 7,000 people come through Molly’s Reach for tours,” Croal said.
Although Beamish offered to meet with Cavalcade organizers, he stopped short of saying the Town was prepared to take the reins and run the event itself.
“I certainly can’t at this point in time commit the resources of the Town, but I can commit to wanting to sit down and see where we can take this and see what we could do with it,” he said. “You guys have made a huge commitment over the years and your participation hasn’t gone unnoticed, and if there’s anything we can do to provide that bridge with a new committee then we’re certainly prepared to participate in that.”
Mary Bittroff spoke on behalf of the Sea Cavalcade Society.
“I think you have to recognize that if you say ‘Sea Cavalcade’ you’re going to have thousands of people coming to Gibsons,” Bittroff said, noting that giving those crowds the type of event they’ve come to expect takes “a huge amount of dedicated work” that usually has to start in October.
“I would suggest that we meet in the fall to plan for next year, when we can cope with the thousands of people that want to come to a Sea Cavalcade,” she told Beamish.
Beamish said his invitation to meet remains open, and he’s hoping to get together with society representatives once chair Conchita Harding, who’s been out of the country, returns.
