Estevan is going to have to wait a year for the second edition of the biggest party of the summer.
The organizers of the Rafferty Rumble announced last week that they had cancelled the event, which was slated to happen from July 24-26.
Rumble committee chairperson Josh LeBlanc said COVID-19 and the restrictions on crowd sizes were a factor. But financial considerations were also taken into account when making a decision.
“Sponsorship was a little bit lower, understandably, because of the fact that businesses are going through a hard time right now. The optics of sponsoring events, yet laying off employees and things like that, didn’t play well into the favour of the Rumble,” said LeBlanc.
The Rumble’s committee said they understand the community was going through tough times even before COVID-19, and to go around and ask for sponsorships and donations was not in the best interest of the event or the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, who would have been among the beneficiaries of the community celebration.
This year’s Rumble was to once again feature a downtown street fair on Fourth Street, with a variety of vendors and other activities. However, there would have been fewer musical acts than last year, and there was going to be a lower cost of admission for the street fair.
The street dance for adults was going to happen at night.
Last year’s Rumble also featured different organizations, most of them sports related, having events during the weekend. Many of those organizations were going to be back this year.
LeBlanc said plans were coming together well for this year, with bands already booked. Uncertainty from COVID-19 kept them from obtaining permits for liquor and closing down Fourth Street, and other work still needed to happen in the next few weeks.
“If we found out July 1 that we were able to have large gatherings, which I think is highly unlikely, to throw an event of that calibre and that size together in a month would have been fairly difficult,” said LeBlanc.
As far as activities for the kids and the street dance, they were ahead of last year. Market vendors were apprehensive to commit because of the uncertainty regarding provincial regulations.
“The issue lied with the fact that it was the Rafferty Rumble and it is a large-scale event. Could you have a market separately? Yes. Could you have the Rafferty Rumble with a market being part of it? No, because it’s a significantly largely amount of people in one area.”
They’re also limited in space, social distancing would be tough.
Other festivals, including the Gateway Music Festival in the Bengough area that was scheduled for the same weekend, have also been cancelled.
Tickets that were purchased already for this year will be honoured next year. And LeBlanc said they will be back next year. Also, those who stepped up for this year will be given first right of refusal for next year.
Last year’s Rumble was a smash hit for the community, attracting thousands of people to the different attractions in and around Estevan, and raising more than $56,000 for the different participating organizations. The majority of the money, about $49,000, went to the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM), making it likely the biggest fundraiser in the 42-year history of the EAGM.
The board of the EAGM has had discussions about other types of fundraisers and what they might do, but at this point in time, LeBlanc said nothing has been finalized.
