Efforts to change how the annual Kincardine Scottish Festival and Highland Games are organized are gaining momentum.
The executive wants the festival to become a not-for-profit corporation, independent of any control by the municipality.
Chair Dave McFarlane says festival organizers want to have more control over the budget process and appointments to the executive, all of which are now are subject to municipal by-laws.
The municipal Community, Heritage, Arts, and Tourism Committee has decided to refer the idea to council for it to look at in January.
The festival wants to have a legal agreement with the municipality to ensure services the festival needs continue to be provided. These include road closures for parades and the use of Victoria Park.
Festival Chair Dave McFarlane says the festival executive already feels like it’s accomplishing what it wants to do but emphasizes the service agreement with the municipality is still needed.
McFarlane says it has been sometimes difficult operating the festival under municipal regulations and by-laws because they’re set up for delivering services to residents, and not running a once-a-year entertainment event.
Councillor Randy Roppel chairs the Community, Heritage, Arts, and Tourism Committee. He respects what the Scottish Festival organizers are hoping to do.
Roppel says there has been some struggling between the municipality and the festival over the past couple of years and thinks the time could be right for them to go their separate ways.
The Kincardine Scottish Festival and Highland Games began in 2000 and attracted 12 pipe bands and three thousand spectators that year.
Last year it attracted 12 thousand people and 27 bands.
The Kincardine Scottish Festival and Highland Games is held on the first full weekend of July and is a regular stop on the yearly schedule of pipe band competitions in Ontario.
