Richmond's parks department is hoping to make Farm Fest bigger and better in 2019. The festival at Garden City Lands, originally a one-off event held in conjunction with the Canada 150 celebrations in 2017, was held again in 2018 with 5,600 attendees, and parks staff are recommding expanding its budget to offer more agricultural-themed programming in 2019.
Richmond city council received a recommendation on Monday to increase the budget to $50,000 from $28,000 – this was not immediately approved by council but was sent back to staff for more information.
The first festival, called Harvest Fest, was intended to just take place once, but due to its success, continued this year in August and was renamed Farm Fest. The objectives were to showcase Richmond’s agriculture, farmers and vendors, educate the public on agricultural practices and allow for community building in the city centre. The event took place at the Garden City Lands.
The option recommended by the director of parks included a cooking stage, wagon rides, more stage performances, farm-themed programming, larger children’s play area and more marketing and communication.
Corporate sponsorship at this year’s event was $4,500 and organizers hope this will increase to $10,000.
The event was organized by the city with collaboration from Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the Steveston Community Association’s Farmers and Artisans Market.
