The Taste of Niagara no longer on menu
Attempt to move it to the Falls fails
The organizer of the Taste of Niagara has canceled the festival this weekend after an attempt to move the event to Niagara Falls failed.
Richard Hoose, president of Taste of Niagara and Event Pro, said Wednesday he had to cancel the event scheduled for Saturday and Sunday because a delay in getting approval for the new location left him with too little time to adequately promote the festival.
Hoose had proposed moving the event from Lockport to Old Falls Street, a cobblestone block that runs between the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel and the former Wintergarden. But negotiations over the sale of the Wintergarden and a transition in the office of the city administrator delayed attempts to secure approval from the city until two weeks ago, Hoose said.
“The idea to go to this new location was to be a positive thing and to grow,” Hoose said. “Everybody’s disappointed. We’re extremely disappointed, but ultimately everyone told us they felt that was the wise decision, to hold off this year rather than run the risk of having a bad experience.”
The event has been held for the last four years in Lockport, but organizers had hoped to move it to Niagara Falls this summer.
Hoose said he met with former Niagara Falls City Administrator Bill Bradberry in March but was not able to secure approval to use Old Falls Street until two weeks ago.
A company controlled by businessman Joseph Anderson holds vending rights to the city-owned Old Falls Street. Anderson is currently in discussions with the state’s USA Niagara Development Corp. to sell the adjacent Wintergarden and transfer the Old Falls Street vending rights, said Al Crogan, Anderson’s representative.
Crogan said the company asked Taste of Niagara organizers to secure approval from the city to hold the event on the walkway.
“The city is allowed under the current lease agreement to hold any city-sponsored events they want,” Crogan said. “For some reason, it just fell through the cracks, and, of course, with the negotiations to sell we haven’t really been pushing events right now.”
Anderson’s lease allows the city to hold “tourist related functions and activities” on the Old Falls Street walkway that “do not materially interfere with the normal business to be conducted” on the street.
Hoose said he received approval from the city two weeks ago but decided along with his vendors that it was too late to adequately plan and promote the event. Hoose said he had lined up only about 15 to 20 vendors this year.
He will now focus on plans to hold a Taste of Niagara event in Niagara Falls next July.
“For the most part, once we figured out where the delay was, the city acted fast and took care of it,” Hoose said. “It just left us with only a short time period to actually get the word out.”
New City Administrator Donna Owens, who started working for the city July 7, said she worked with Hoose to “fast track” the event approval after she started.
“We’re going to help them plan ahead for next year,” Owens said.
