If you're going to have an eight-day party, you'll need a whole lot of food.
The upcoming 'Stars and Thunder Festival' has several logistical issues to iron out before June, among them is how food and beverage will be distributed. There are plenty of restaurants, caterers, brewers, and food vendors around the region anxiously waiting for the opportunity to apply for a spot.
"Across Northern Ontario there's a lot of people interested obviously, in being at this event. We're still trying to find the final structure for the food vendors and how we're going to out with that. But we're hoping that those RFPs or tenders, however its going to be done, are out by the end of February at the latest. Hopefully sooner than that," said Mayor Steve Black.
With a little over four months to go before the festival kicks off on June 24, long-term planning is key.
"We understand everyone is trying to plan for the event, and for Canada Day in general, and if they're not going to be a part of this event, they're probably looking at getting involved in other events in other locations."
Black said there will be food providers at not only the paid, fenced off sections of the park, but also in the 'free' side.
"We anticipate large crowds there throughout the day as well. I anticipate that some of the concert goers will likely go over there during the day to watch some of the local entertainment, and then make their way over."
Black says beverage vendors will likely be very similar between the VIP and general admission sections of the ticketed portion of the festival.
"There may be a separate food vendor that's in the VIP section as opposed to the general admission section, unless we set up the site plan in a way that they can straddle the boundary between the VIP and the general admission area, so that they could provide for both. That still needs to be discussed."
Pulled Pork sliders with bacon and arugula from the Christopher's Coffee House booth at BaconFest 2016. Andrew Autio for TimminsTodayA meeting between city officials and live event producer Ron Sakamoto's team was held last week to discuss the physical layout of Hollinger Park for the festival. An update on that should be coming to council in the near future.
With the city's spending up to $4.1 million on the festival, there is a hope that food and beverage contracts will be given to local, or at least regional groups. Black said that won't necessarily be the case.
"It depends on what the final RFP tender is. Obviously we hope that our local area providers are successful in the tender RFPs. But for the sake of breaking even and being responsible to the taxpayers, if someone from out of town came in and made a monster bid to be a part of the festival, I'm sure we'd consider looking at that as well," said Black.
"I think there should be lots of opportunities for food vendors, and we do understand their position of wanting to know, and hope to get those RFPs out soon."
