ORGANIZERS OF WAKESTOCK WANT TO CONTINUE
TO BUILD COLLINGWOOD RELATIONSHIP IN 2011

Collingwood Council has voted in favour of bringing back the Wakestock waterfront festival in August, 2011.

Wakestock Festival Events Manager Todd Elsley spoke to Collingwood Council on Monday, February 28th. Elsley wants council to give the green light to the festival's return in August, 2011. He told council that the Wakestock event contributes $3 million in terms of economic benefits to the region.

Marta Proctor, Director of Leisure Services, said that there have been numerous meetings between the event organizers and town staff to include Parks, Recreation and Culture staff, OPP and Fire Department staff to discuss last years event and to discuss certain opportunities to improve crowd control and safety for this year's event.

Proctor told council that the festival will provide affordable camping opportunities at the Great Northern Exhibition fairgrounds, connected to the waterfront activities by a shuttle service. "Parking has been an issue that was resolved a little last year with more off-site parking, and will be expanded even further by use of the GNE site and the shuttle service. We have reviewed pay duty officer requirements, both on-site and security requirements at the remote sites and the event organizers are accommodating those requirements, and we also initiated discussions regarding a social marketing and responsibility campaign that the event organizers are working on."

Proctor said they have also established meetings with some of the additional partners including the Village at Blue Mountain and Clearview Township. She said that in light of the outcome of ongoing meetings, town staff felt comfortable in recommending moving forward with the festival permit.

Deputy Mayor Rick Lloyd told council that he has talked to residents and heard complaints about vadalism and noise issues. He said that the incidents can't be directly pinned on Wakestock, but added that the problems occurred on the weekend of the event. He said that he was pleased to see that the accommodation issue had been dealt with and the fact that paid duty police officers would be put back in place for the 2011 event. "But again, this has to be closely monitored because it is just not acceptable to have these situations occur in our municipality. It's bad for all special events if one special event has problems."

Councillor Sandy Cunningham agreed with Deputy Mayor Rick Lloyd's concerns. "I do have concerns with things that have happened in the past and we need to monitor it very closely."

Mayor Sandra Cooper had sent out a questionnaire to the Wakestock organizers with regards to the 2011 event. "I did receive after the event last year several phone calls as I do with the Elvis Festival as well. A lot of the questions I had were answered on how it is impacting our downtown business owners." Mayor Cooper told council that several business owners reported that sales had increased over the Wakestock weekend upwards of sixty percent. "I think we have to keep in mind that we are open for business."

2010 certainly lived up to its billing as one of the summer's largest festivals. More than 10,000 people jammed Collingwood's Millennium Park over the weekend to watch the world's best pros compete, and to enjoy concerts from some of today's leading bands including USS/Maestro Fresh Wes, Crash Kings, Hollerado, KO, Public Enemy and Alexisonfire.

Wakestock is the world's premiere professional wakeboarding/wakeskating event, part of the WWA World Series of Wakeboarding. The festival has found a new home in Collingwood after stops in Wasaga Beach and Toronto Island, and organizers want to continue the relationship.

In addition, Wakestock is also Canada's largest annual action sports and music festival featuring one of the biggest music line-ups of the summer along with skateboarding, surfing, kiteboarding, and country's largest action sports expo and marketplace showcasing youth action sports lifestyle clothing, gear and accessories.

Wakestock was the first pro wakeboarding tour event to include rails, wakeskating and winch pools and consistently attracts the biggest spectator crowds in the world. Past Wakestock champions include legends like Darrin Shapiro, Parks Bonifay, Brett Eisenhauer, Jeff Heer and current superstars like Chad Sharpe, Shane Bonifay, Daniel Watkins, Keith Lidberg, Brian Grubb, Reed Hansen, George Daniels, Stuart Shinn, Rusty Malinoski, Phil Soven and Aaron Rathy.

For more photos, videos and news about Wakestock, visit www.wakestock.com.