Taste of Saskatchewan going on hiatus this year, organizer says
Taste of Saskatchewan is tasting a break this summer.
The summer staple at Saskatoon’s Kiwanis Park will not take place in 2023 as SaskTel Centre — the group who organizes the festival — reevaluates its prospects moving forward.
"It's been very tough to get restaurants," Scott Ford, SaskTel Centre executive director said. "Mainly because of the inflation costs. They're having a tough time gauging menu items and also having a tough time getting labor."
Ford says the last two years have been particularly tough as revenue from the festival started to dwindle with uncertainty taking over both the event and restaurant industries.
Last year, Ford said he had commitments from restaurants in the months and weeks leading up to the festival, but by the time the festival started he had to proceed without a handful of restaurants who could no longer take part.
The same staffing, taxation and inflation costs are also apparent for SaskTel Centre. Ford says Taste of Saskatchewan costs roughly $300,000 to $400,000 to operate each year. With costs rising for restaurant owners and SaskTel Centre, Ford wasn't confident the festival could remain affordable for the average attendee.
"The challenge is, as inflation and operating costs increase, you need to increase your revenues to stay in line, and we haven't been able to do that," Ford said.
Since 1996, the only other time Taste of Saskatchewan didn't operate was in 2020 because of COVID-19-related restrictions.
Ford has been involved in planning the festival for 25 years, and he feels a break is in its best interest moving forward.
"Let's just rest the event a year, re-evaluate it, and look at whether we want to proceed with bringing Taste of Saskatchewan back in 2024," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.