A popular event organized for volunteers and sponsors of Festival of Trees has been eliminated because the size of crowd it drew threatened to exceed room capacity.
Last year 1,400 people attended the Celebration of Lights, a dinner at Westerner Park’s Parkland Pavilion and a preview of the decorated trees.
Alaine Martin, project manager with Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, which puts on the festival to raise money for Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, said the size of the Celebration of Lights crowd was becoming unmanageable.
“You want to have them to come and enjoy and if they’re coming and standing in line for an hour to eat and they can’t see the trees through the crowd, that’s no good,” Martin said on Friday.
Now in order to thank people for their participation, each volunteer will receive two free tickets to the festival and a Westerner Park parking pass. Sponsors will get tickets and parking passes based on their donations.
The cost of tickets and passes is comparable to hosting the Celebration of Lights, she said.
Other changes to the Festival of Trees include four new events — Cirque du Noel, Festival Business Lunch, Breakfast with Santa, and Seniors Appreciation.
“We wanted to mix things up so it’s always fresh. We’re into 18 years now. We want to keep it lively and interesting for people to keep coming back and to make some money for the hospital,” Martin said.
Cirque du Noel will be a party with a circus atmosphere with entertainers and music.
Seniors Appreciation will replace Silver Bells Luncheon. Seniors will receive free admission and a coupon for a beverage and treat in the tree room.
The Festival Business Lunch will feature speaker Don Bell, former executive vice-president and co-founder of West Jet.
Breakfast with Santa replaces Teddy Bear Breakfast and Festival Finale Family Brunch.
Tickets must be purchased for the business lunch, the breakfast and Cirque du Noel. Tickets go on sale Oct. 4 for these and other festival events.
Festival of Trees is open to the general public from Nov. 25 to 27. Money raised this year goes towards upgrading minimally invasive surgery equipment and technology. Laparoscopic and arthroscopic equipment will include high definition cameras and monitors, telescopes and instruments.
Last year $875,000 was raised for cardiopulmonary care.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com