Scott Radley: No Supercrawl next month. But Hamilton may see a scaled-down event in October
The streets of downtown Hamilton will not be flooded with tens of thousands of music and art fans next month for Supercrawl. Because for the second straight September, the annual event is not going ahead as planned.
COVID wins. Again.
But hold on. All is not lost.
At the moment, we're planning to try to execute something in October," says festival director Tim Potocic.
If COVID's fourth wave doesn't arrive and if government regulations permit, a scaled-down version will run Oct. 8 and 9, he says. It won't have as many stages, it'll only go for two days instead of the customary three and the budget will be roughly half the usual since sponsors are much harder to find these days. But it would be a Supercrawl. And it would look more normal than not.
It's such a real possibility that he says contract offers were being sent out to some big-name headliners on Wednesday.
Well-known acts," he says.
Since most bands aren't working much these days because venues aren't open, he's optimistic he'll land some or all or the groups he's after. Along with plenty of other acts from the southern Ontario area. He's heard from many that are interested in performing.
So he and the organizers are plowing ahead with plans to make the event a go.
Will it happen?
Optimism may be in short supply in some corners and he may be among those most entitled to be rather frustrated with the way things are going after he had to cancel last year's party - a year after heavy rains dampened opening night in 2019 - only to face challenge after challenge this time around. But he's trying to stay positive.
It kind of goes up and down," he says of his hopes. A couple weeks ago I would've said, This is happening.' Now I'm like, Is this happening?'"
His vaccinations are understandable. On one hand you have the province's chief medical officer announcing Tuesday that Ontario is a week to 10 days away from easing more restrictions. That sounds like good news.
On the other, Hamilton's numbers are on the rise, this city now has the province's highest COVID rate and vaccinations here in town appear to be lagging. That's decidedly bad news.
Potocic says navigating government regulations has already been incredibly challenging since rules have continually changed. And he figures these guidelines will remain a moving target as COVID case numbers rise and fall.
We are appreciative of the fact that no one can predict the future," he says. But it is very hard to plan."
He's right. Nobody can predict the future. Yet in a sense, that's what he's being asked to do.
Potocic says city hall has been accommodating and expects that if the go-ahead is given, things will fall into place quickly.
It's a huge fingers-crossed moment. For him, obviously. But also for the city.
Supercrawl is the biggest arts and music festival in town and is often the most-attended event on the civic calendar. As many as a quarter-million people fill the streets over the three days in a typical year. It's a massive jolt to the downtown core and a terrific tourist draw.
In a little over a decade it's become one of this city's calling cards and a signature event. It's even been cited as one of the big drivers of the core's revitalization.
And if things break the right way over the next little while, it might be one of the first tangible signs we're heading back toward normal at long last.
Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com