Category: Ottawhat

Ottawa’s annual Greekfest kicks off today, but not everyone is celebrating. At a press conference early this morning, Greekfest President Angelo Stamkos announced that the organization has defaulted on a sizeable loan this year.

“We’ve been having financial difficulties for a while,” says Stamkos. “We’ve done our best to mask these troubles in the past, but they seem to be coming to a head this year.” The costs for Greekfest are impressive, including venue fees, tent rentals, and olives. To complicate matters further, this bad news has caused multiple sponsors to pull their support.

The festival has been a summer staple for years, attracting thousands of participants. The ten day party showcases the best of Greek food, music, and art. While many plan on dancing the Zorba for the next week, others are not as cheerful. The future of the festival is uncertain, but many people are already proposing solutions.

“I think it is only fair that Ottawa Festivals bail us out. We have been a member of the organization for years, and have asked for nothing in return. We can’t all be as successful and well-off as the Germans with Oktoberfest, you know? If Greekfest goes down it could be bad news for other festivals in the area,” says Stamkos.  “Who knows, this could be the start of a global festival meltdown.”

If you see a snowplow pass by in August, don’t worry; it’s part of the city’s Snowfall Preparedness Initiative. From August 9th-11th, 45 snowplows, 200 city workers, and 2 tonnes of fake snow will be used to simulate a variety of winter emergency scenarios.

“We’ve been caught with our snow pants down before, so to speak,” says City Official Rick Meyer. “These training exercises will undoubtedly improve the our response times for the upcoming winter. The City of Ottawa is dedicated to providing residents with regular, timely snow removal.”

The three-day event will cost the city nearly two million dollars, which will come out of the snowplow budget for the upcoming winter. “It’s an operational cost,” explains Meyers. “It’s an investment. Will we have reduced plowing hours as a result? Yes. Will we only be plowing when there is more than 20 cm of snow? Yes. But will we be more efficient at snow removal than last year? Probably.”