The Italian Day Festival Society says it is at risk of a scaled-back festival this year.
Organizers claim that it is losing out on sponsors because FIFA’s advertisement is occupying street banners, which were previously used for sponsorship revenue.
The festival happens every year in June along Commercial Drive.
“Our sponsors would see their names up next to the Little Italy banners on Commercial Drive activated in time for Italian Day on the drive,” said Melissa DeGenova, president of the group, in an interview with 1130 NewsRadio.
“And unfortunately, this year that will not happen.”
The society is now urging City Hall to step in and provide a $60,000 one-time emergency grant for this year’s event.
“We feel that this is a very good investment, and we hope that we will have unanimous support up at council for this motion that would give us that contribution that we really need to just get us through this year, especially considering the unique circumstances of activating during FIFA.”
DeGenova adds that the organization has been facing financial pressures for some time now.
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While operational costs have been increasing, provincial funding has been denied due to changes in grant criteria.
The Italian Day Festival Society warns that without the money, the festival would happen without many popular free attractions.
The event, which draws around hundreds of thousands of attendees, is known for its pasta-eating contests, human foosball, and concerts.
DeGenova says while future years are in jeopardy of being cancelled, they are hopeful this year’s event will survive.
“That being said, there will be some hard decisions that have to be made, and the festival would have to be scaled back, and there are some things that we won’t be able to do that we know that people are really excited about,” the president said.
“Vancouver is a very expensive city, and this is a free all-ages event, and we usually welcome hundreds of thousands of people to the drive to participate, as car free days do.”
DeGenova says the group will be asking for the funding at the Vancouver City Council next Wednesday.
– With files from Raynaldo Suarez.