KENTVILLE, NS - The Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival is in good shape financially and is looking for volunteers, including new board members, to help bolster its efforts.
The festival’s annual general meeting, chaired by festival president and publicity director Alxys Chamberlain and vice president and finance director Logan Morse, was held in the historic Cornwallis Inn ballroom on Nov. 27.
Morse said the board of directors would continue to focus on returning sponsorship to prior levels and would continue to seek cost efficiencies in 2019.
The festival had $4,784 of revenue in excess of expenditures for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2018. This puts the current operating surplus at $54,356, as a surplus of $49,572 was carried over from the prior fiscal year. Morse said there was a high level of commitment from the board to reduce expenses.
“We saw increases in most all of our revenue streams and most significantly increased our sponsorship levels for the first time in a decade,” Morse said. “The festival sits in a strong financial position to continue into the future but we know that the work is not done.”
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The festival couldn’t happen without the continuing support of volunteers. Morse said they welcome new volunteers interested in working in a number of capacities, including new board members.
Morse, Chamberlain, Juli McHattie, Steffany Cox-Lingard, Krista Morine, Katie Godon, Ryan Swetnam and Angela Pelton were all reaffirmed as members of the board of directors at the meeting.
Morse said that, through a provincial grant, the festival is currently engaged with the Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre to conduct a strategic review. The way forward will be presented at the end of the review process. They are currently working on a new website as well, which the board hopes will be up and running in time for the next festival.
Chamberlain said the 86th annual festival held in 2018 was a success by many accounts. The board of directors was “strongly committed” to this success, making efforts to increase awareness of the festival and to involve new partners and sponsors.
“As you may have noticed, several new events were added to the festival this year that added life to the festival and revived several lost traditions,” Chamberlain said.
The 87th annual festival takes place from May 29 to June 3, 2019, with the theme “Once a Blossom – Always a Blossom.”
The next regular board of directors meeting takes place at the festival office, located in the former Cornwallis Inn, now known as Main Street Station, in Kentville on Dec. 4.
