Following the Kimberley and District Chamber of Commerce announcement that they would be pausing involvement in organizing Kimberley's annual JulyFest for at least one year, numerous community members, individually or in groups, began thinking of ways to make the historic party happen in 2025.
One of those was Jeremy Christensen of mobile entertainment company JaxAudio. Christensen was born and raised in Kimberley and told The Bulletin JulyFest has always been a huge part of his life.
"As an adult, my core friend group has always used fest as a time for us all to converge on Kimberley from wherever life has taken us," Christensen said. "Prior to their retirement my dad's team was one of, if not the longest running team (4 Angry Inches) in Kimberley. He has since joined us (Dicken Cider) who have been participating for 27 years."
While Christensen has not been an organizer of the event, many members of his group has, and he's reffed in the Bocce Tournament, and slung beers in the past. As a teenager, one of his first jobs was being the Happy Hans mascot and he had the privilege of assembling the iconic Happy Hans bocce trophies.
He said right after the Chamber's announcement, a group organized and had a meeting the next morning to "pledge their determination to keep JulyFest alive."
"We have everything we need in place to ensure the tradition continues, and the right people to make it happen," he said. "As a group we are dedicated to bringing back the JulyFest of old. We want to make it affordable again for families and a fun place to meet old friends and new."
The group, he added, is comprised of organizers and investors who all share a common vision.
"If we get the nod expect to see big things coming down the pipe," he said. "We acknowledge and appreciate all the hard work everyone has put into JulyFest over the years.
"Any event of this magnitude takes an incredible amount of work to put on. Thank you to everyone past and present. As with all things, change happens, and it's time to return to the roots of Fest and see it reborn so it can continue to be a staple of Kimberley life for years to come."
One of the people at the meeting was Mike Guarnery, who has been involved with JulyFest in a number of capacities for the past 30 years. He got a call from someone who had seen the post and 10 minutes later was asked to attend a meeting of people who were interested in moving the event forward, and has since heard from other community members who are also interested.
"I have no doubt that JulyFest in 2025 will happen," he said. "I’m very certain it will. In terms of how that’s going to look and the organizational structure, I’m not exactly sure of that, because there are obviously different entities that are interested in it."
He said the meeting was very structured, with an agenda and assignments for people afterwards, with his being to develop a budget.
"They weren’t just spitballing ideas, they actually have an idea of moving it forward and basically bringing it back to more of an affordable homecoming event," he said. "I know somebody’s going to move it forward. It’s not going to succumb to a demise, because it was started at a grassroots level, it can certainly go back to that.
"By looking at the comments, that interest is there, it’s just taking interest into action, that’s the big thing."
Guarnery added that the group had a lot of the same values that the organizers of July on the Side when it was formed two years ago. He was a large part of that, as was musician Curtis Kaldestad.
Kaldestad said that he helped put on July on the Side because of, "The people and the traditions that were being forgotten."
"JulyFest is not just a festival put on by the Chamber of Commerce," he said. "There are a lot of specific local people behind the scenes that have been part of it for many years that made different parts of it happen. I wanted to help preserve that and create a space for those people and traditions that were feeling left out."
Kaldestad said he's been asked not to comment on the plans of any groups that have formed until they've had more time to prepare, and added he's not a member of any of those groups, but is very excited to help out and be involved in anyway he can if it means JulyFest "has a chance to go back to the way it used to be."
"There's a lot of forgotten traditions that could come back and make next year incredible," he said.
In terms of what a JulyFest organized by a new group of people would mean for July on the Side, Kaldestad said he's been trying to answer that question himself since the announcement.
"I think it depends on how the new leadership of JulyFest wants interact with us. I would much rather see us working with them, helping the festival to expand while remaining locally driven. The folks who put on July on the Side, we're a part of this community no matter what, so at the moment, we're waiting, and watching, and looking forward to being a part of that conversation."
Jason Toner was a Chamber member from 2012 to 2020. He owned Big Magic Design and left the Chamber after he sold his half of it to his partner, following a stroke in 2019.
He coordinated the festival in 2015. He said that back then it was a $4000 contact and four months worth of work, all done by volunteer labour, with a ton of help from the Chamber manager.
"It should be volunteer driven, it can only exist as a festival if it’s volunteer driven," he said. "This festival was going for the past 50 years and it was almost all volunteer driven. It doesn’t make any money, even the years where we had a big concert in the arena it would barely make $40,000 after everything was said and done. That would be a great year. So you spend $200,000 to make $40,000. So it’s not really an economically viable festival, even with all the price increases."
He added that COVID, inflation, price gouging and less volunteerism are all factors festival organizers are faced with. He said he would be happy to see the festival reinvigorated, but it would take a strong board with experience in running events, grant writers and a strong group of volunteers to step up and help out.
Chamber of Commerce president Andrew Wilson told the Bulletin they are "actively working with interested groups and residents to find solutions moving forward."
"And we are in the process of organizing broader discussions later this month. There is lots going on behind the scenes here and we will be sure to provide you with more information after these conversations take place with the community and the board.
"Our intention is to ensure July Fest has the resources and support required to organize a festival of this scope and size moving forward."
This is an evolving story. The Bulletin will continue reporting as it develops.
