“We have completely redeveloped our website, which includes the functionality to showcase a product or two from everyone who was originally involved, at the time around 275 vendors,” Wourms said.Saskatchewan craft breweries fighting to stay afloat during coronavirus pandemicWourms added the festival does not take any funds for order fulfillment or payment processing, as all money goes to the vendor.
Regina wood-burning artist Julie Dima said the initial news of the street fair closure was “economically and emotionally devastating.”“As a handmade artist in Regina, the Cathedral Village Arts Festival is easily my biggest event of the year. I look forward to it all year, I plan for it, create artwork to sell there.”owner said the addition of an online showcase was “inspiring and encouraging,” given that organizers could have simply cancelled the event completely.
“For the committee to completely do a 180 and think about how they can continue to support artists, it’s pretty spectacular,” Dima said.Artist Jana Klein agreed, adding she did not expect anything after the street fair was called off.“It’s nice, especially without the market and not getting to have that face-to-face interaction. It’s nice to know that we still have the ability to do it electronically,” Klein said.
Klein, who is primarily an alcohol-ink artist, said this year would have marked her first time bringing work to the festival. “It was my big goal for 2020 was to be in this market, because it’s my favourite festival of the entire year,” said Klein, adding she only misses the event if she’s out of town for work.He said one of the reasons the planning committee forged ahead — volunteering countless hours — was to maintain the tradition.“It’s a good feeling to have that community support to bring this online and to hopefully give everybody something to look forward to,” he said.
Actually, that negates the idea of art.