Brody Langager
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Those operating behind the scenes in Saskatoon’s arts and events community were watching closely — and with sympathetic eyes — as one of Regina’s long-standing festivals has come to a permanent conclusion.
The Regina Folk Festival announced last week that plans to revive the outdoor music festival have been cancelled, and that work would be underway to dissolve the organization. Financial constraints and reduced operational capacity were listed as major reasons for the decision.
Saskatoon isn’t unfamiliar with large summer events cancelling, with previous mainstays like Taste of Saskatchewan and Ribfest falling off the calendar in recent years. The same problems that ultimately led to the end of Regina Folk Festival have been plaguing event organizers in Saskatoon as costs continue to increase.
“Our biggest challenge is getting people off their phones and off their couches in order to get them out to participate in these events,” said Anita Smith, artistic and executive director of 25th Street Theatre.
She said it’s broadly recognized that events like Fringe Festival are highly valued within the community, but if people don’t show up or buy tickets its impossible to keep them going.
Smith said ticket sales were up about 30 per cent last year, but that they continue to struggle with inflationary prices.
She said everyone from event organizers to artists to patrons are paying more for these kinds of events.
“It’s a real balancing act between knowing what we know needs to happen in order for our festival to be sustainable, in order for artists to be able to continue to do this work, but also for patrons to be able to afford to attend.”
She said the festival was scaled back in 2021 because they knew they wouldn’t be financially sustainable otherwise.
Smith said it wasn’t helpful when PST got added to ticket sales, noting that prices for tickets go up, but it doesn’t benefit the organizers or the artists.
She said they have increased the price of tickets by $1 this year to help with increased costs, but said the ticket price goes back directly to the artist.
Smith said festivals are also discussing how they can share resources, noting things like fire extinguishers are needed at events, but only for a few days a year.
“I think it’s important for people to know that we’re being creative, because that’s what we do.”
The 2025 Fringe Festival takes place July 31 to Aug. 9. Three of those days will see Broadway shut down for the festival.
“We are first and foremost a theatre festival, so there will be over 125 shows taking place over those 10 days.”
Shannon Josdal, executive director for the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, said these challenges are industry wide
“It’s not just us, and it’s not just Saskatchewan,” Josdal said.
“Sometimes it feels like we’ve had a big victory or we’ve made it out of the woods, and then it’s one more thing. There’s always something new that’s cropping up since COVID-19 kind of shook up the industry.”
Josdal said they’ve had to reduce their budget by about 16 per cent to remain responsive and work within the market. She said this response to rising costs is a growing challenge that constantly gets more difficult.
The recent market insecurity has negatively impacted advanced ticket sales, Josdal said, which she explained is more important than some people might realize.
“A lot of people don’t realize that we owe deposits on just about everything that we use for the festival … we usually have to put up about 50 per cent before the festival even opens.”
These costs can range from artist fees to technician fees or equipment, and Josdal said as more people buy tickets at the gate it becomes harder to manage this balancing act.
Sponsorships and grant funding are also harder to come by, she said.
In 2022 and 2023 the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival saw attendance numbers going down, with the exception of the free program, which had a good showing.
In 2024, Josdal said they had the most successful ticketed show ever with Melissa Etheridge and Jewel performing.
“We had close to 4,000 people in the park.”
Josdal said events like Regina Folk Festival and the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival are extremely susceptible to market impacts.
“We are working with skeleton crews and shoestring budgets to try and put on the best show we possibly can.”
She said they work within the community as well, using ticketing software from local groups and supporting local artists, technicians and food trucks, while also offering programming like the Jazz in Schools program and the Care Home Outreach program.
“Organizations like ours and like Regina Folk Festival, we’re invested in the community and in the cultural aspect of the community, and so much of that isn’t displayed on the stage.”
The SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival runs from July 3-12.
