Last night at GC, Council discussed the approvals for two third party special events that will be occurring in our Town this summer, first the third year of the Aurorapalozza and a new event the Aurora Craft Beer Festival. What was before Council was not whether to approve the actual permit as that is done at the staff level; Staff ensure that the event planner (the one looking to get the permit) has all the necessary requirements in place such as insurance, fencing, security…etc before staff would issue a permit. What was before Council was the decision as to whether these two events would be deemed an event of Town significance. Designation as an event of Town significance is required in order for the applicant to receive a Special Occasion Permit for the sale of alcohol.
I am pleased to say that Council approved both these events GC (the decision will need to be ratified at Council at months end)
This is great news for our Town. We continue more and more interest from third parties to bring specialized events to our community. Festivals such as this one are not only great for our residents to enjoy but they also bring visitors to our town and so that they too can see why Aurora is a great place to live work and play!
Aurorapalloza has already had two successful years (during the pandemic) with capacity limits in place. And as staff say “The event will include local musicians and food vendors, be sponsored by local businesses, and will include the serving of alcohol. The 2020 and 2021 Aurorapalooza events were well managed, without incident”. With capacity limits lifted, I expect that this, the third year of this annual event, will be highly successful and one that promotes local talent for all to enjoy.
The second event “the Community Craft Beer Festival Aurora” is new to our Town and is scheduled to run 3 days from June 14 to 17 at Machell’s Park. While this festival is new to Aurora, the event itself is not new to York Region… The craft beer festival was operated as the Newmarket craft beer festival for 2 years and the organizers have decided to leave Newmarket and relocate to Aurora. This event had over 8000 people take in the festival their first year and with capacity limits returning to normal I expect this event to be just as successful in Aurora. I am looking forward to this new event as they partner with the Canadian Food and Wine Institute and feature a variety of food and beverage vendors, culinary artisans, Ontario producers, workshops, demos, activities, and entertainment.
I am looking forward to both these events this summer. They will make a great addition to all our events – in particular the Town operated events that take place throughout the year such as the crowd favourite Concerts in the Park… This will be a fantastic summer in Aurora!! A summer that we can all look forward to. One with more events to make memories and continue to make our community spirit thrive!
