The City of St. Albert is stepping up with $15,000 in last-minute funding for this year's Snowflake Festival after the annual event was initially cancelled due to the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce not having the funds or staff resources to organize it.
The Snowflake Festival is a one-evening event downtown that usually occurs in late November as a kick-off to the holiday season. The festivities usually involve a special appearance from Santa Claus, a petting zoo, the lighting of the tree outside the St. Albert Community Hall, and more.
The $15,000 in one-time funding, which is being taken out of the city's stabilization reserve, will be on top of the $8,000-$10,000 of “in-kind” support the city provides to the festival each year for things like road closures, waste collection, park and ride services, and marketing, according to a report to council written by the city's director of economic development Mike Erickson.
The Gazette will have more to come.
