One of the region's most popular summer events is going dry.
Tecumseh Town Council voted this week to approve a restructuring in the organization of the annual Corn Festival, which draws thousands of people to Lacasse Park on the last weekend in August each year. Among the changes being made is the elimination of the licensed beer tent that has become a festival mainstay.
Mayor Gary McNamara says the Knights of Columbus, which has operated the tent for years, notified the town of its desire to stop doing so after this year's festival. The mayor says another reason is to help Corn Fest return to its origins as a complete, family-friendly event.
"That was the whole intention of the festival in the first place," says McNamara. "It's about families, it's about the corn and celebrating the end of summer."
The first Corn Fest was held in 1976, and the mayor says it did not originally offer alcohol for purchase.
McNamara says other festivals are dropping the sale of alcohol due to concerns about liability and the possibility of adult beverages getting into the wrong hands. He says a local festival-related tragedy comes to mind.
"Many of the communities across Ontario are doing the same thing, and a lot of it is to do with risk," says McNamara. "We've all seen what happened at the wine festival in Amherstburg."
The Shores of Erie Wine Festival was last held in 2014, and it remains the subject of lawsuits and scrutiny after an underage volunteer consumed alcohol at the event and later died in a single-vehicle crash.
In addition to discontinuing the Tecumseh beer tent, town councillors approved a plan to eliminate a separate festival committee. Instead, responsibility for the event will be turned over to the town's parks and recreation department. The change will bring the festival in line with other major events in town such as Christmas in Tecumseh.
A third major change for next year's Corn Fest is reducing its length from four days to three days. McNamara says it was no longer feasible to open the event on a Thursday.
"For Thursday, we noticed that the attendance was actually weaning," says McNamara. "For that matter, the festival tent was basically empty on Thursday. So we're going to concentrate on Friday, Saturday and Sunday."
Events normally held on Thursday will now be worked into the schedule for the remaining three days. These include the carnival and midway, the Miss Tecumseh Pageant, live music shows and the parade on Saturday. Closing time on Friday and Saturday will be at 10pm, starting next year.
Following the 2018 Corn Fest, town council will ask for a report on how things went to see if the changes should stay in place for future festivals.
