Area 506 Festival Highlighting NB Businesses with “Shipping Container Village”
SAINT JOHN – The Area 506 Festival, taking place July 29-31, won’t just be showcasing great music, but great businesses as well.
On Tuesday, the festival organizers unveiled their plans to turn Saint John’s Long Wharf into a “shipping container village”.
The “festival streets” made with containers, will be lined with representation from cities, towns, multi-cultural groups and well-known brands from New Brunswick. Some of the business on board include Olivier Soaps, Sabian Cymbals, King Cole Tea, Mrs. Dunsters Donuts, Covered Bridge Chips, Sussex Beard Oil and Corey Nutrition, among others.
Ray Gracewood, the festival’s committee chair, said the festival was created to become a flagship event that celebrates New Brunswick.
“The think from the start was there was a real gap in understanding pride of place within New Brunswick and celebrating all the brands and culture groups and music that the province has to offer,” Gracewood says. “We wanted to create a marquee event on the Saint John waterfront that would be the destination for New Brunswickers to come together and celebrate the province on the long weekend.”
Exactly how much economic spin-off the festival will have is yet to be determined, but Gracewood said the impact is expected to be huge.
“In terms of tourism revenue and revenue through our on site vendors and the opportunity to bring in a big group of people, it’s going to have a huge economic impact. We’re excited to see how the numbers roll out after the fact,” he said.
“But I think the excitement we’ve seen especially within the hotel association around the idea, tells me there’s going to be huge upside in terms of the number of people coming to the city and what they do when they get here in terms if hotels, restaurant visits, and every other spin-off opportunity that it will hopefully create.”
Gracewood said early bird ticket sales have already exceeded their expectations, and they are anticipating a large crowd. He said it’s important to have an event where people can experience so much of New Brunswick in one place.
“For me, as a New Brunswicker, it’s important that we make the choice to live and to play in New Brunswick,” said Gracewood.
“I think there is very few opportunities to really get a broad scope of what the province has to offer. . . It’s important to be able to concentrate that in one experience, and to understand what the province has to offer.”