Organizers at the Calgary International Blues Festival say they are furious after learning about plans to pave much of the green space at the former Millennium Park.
Bluesfest has been held at the park in the west end of downtown for the past 14 years — last summer the city announced the outdoor space would be known as ‘Cowboys Park’ and will become the new home of the Cowboys Music Festival starting in 2025.
The festival’s producer and artistic director Cindy McLeod says the city was not forthcoming on what was happening with the area after the 10-year naming and sponsorship deal with Cowboys was announced last year.
She says they had to pay nearly $2,700 to file a FOIP request, only to find out there are plans for much of the grass, stage area and amphitheatre to be removed from the park.
“I can’t actually begin to plan our event and we are five months out, which is really worrisome because it typically takes me a year to plan,” McLeod says.
She says she doesn’t know how they can run the festival on pavement considering the typically hot weather. McLeod says Bluesfest can’t afford to put up a large tent like Cowboys does.
She adds she finds it disturbing there was no public consultation and taxpayers are on the hook for paving the greenspace.
“It feels like these two huge entities, the City of Calgary and the Cowboys people, did not include or ask for any feedback,” says McLeod.
In response, the city says more details on the plan will be made available at the end of February and they claim the plans have been “shared with partners in advance as a courtesy.”
Last summer, the city said additional upgrades would be made to the rebranded Cowboys Park with the aim to have it host more than 100,000 visitors each year for national and international events.
The park is currently home to outdoor climbing boulders and the country’s largest free outdoor skate park. The city says additional upgrades will be made for next year and further into the future.