Still Sleddin’

Sled Island is arguably one of Calgary’s best events for music fans of any and all genres. With over 250 bands throughout more than 30 venues in Calgary’s downtown core, this four-day music festival is an exciting and intensive musical experience. But just as it began to pick up steam last June, Sled Island was cancelled due to the June floods. The fest was halfway through its four-day lineup of shows.

Not only was this a huge disappointment to the fans, bands and volunteers involved, but it also came with devastating financial loss.

A blog post on the official Sled Island website stated that 70 per cent of their expenses were non-refundable, and that a large majority of their revenue comes from ticket sales, so “if [Sled Island] were to refund every individual ticket and pass holder, [they] would lose three significant streams of income, projected to have been $500,000.” At the time of the post’s publication, their losses were already at an estimated $200,000 – a significant cost to the festival.

In response, Sled Island organizers gave ticket and pass holders for the cancelled events the option to refund their tickets or not. Those who opted not to refund were able given the choice of simply not requesting a refund, or to reinvest the cost of their tickets back into the festival through their charitable donation page through InvestYYC.

According to a recent press release by the festival, nearly 70 per cent of ticket and pass holders either chose not to refund their tickets, or to reinvest in Sled Island. As a result of immense community support, Sled Island just announced that the festival “will return as strong as ever in 2014.”

Charitable donations can still be made to ensure the best possible event next June through their InvestYYC webpage until Dec. 31, and next year’s festival will run June 18-22, 2014.