LaSalle council heard from administration Tuesday night on a report that detailed a small deficit for the LaSalle Strawberry Festival in 2024.
The report noted that a decrease in admission revenue and strawberry and ice cream sales, along with higher park setup costs, led to a deficit of $2,721.
Council was presented with a number of options including continuing operating the festival at a loss and using festival reserves to cover the costs.
Also presented as an option was cutting back on non-essential options to reduce costs, including the elimination of the parade for a savings of $5,000, eliminating the family thrill show for a savings of $15,000 to $20,000, or reducing the entertainment on Family Day for a savings of $2,500-$6,500.
Administration also presented the option to raise the cost of strawberries and ice cream or raise the cost of admission, which hasn’t increased in nearly a decade, to increase revenue.
Councillor Anita Riccio-Spagnuolo said she was against eliminating the parade.
"We have a very family focused community with a lot of young kids, and I think that's something that they look forward to at a low cost of $5,000."
Councillor Terry Burns said when the Strawberry Festival began over 30 years ago, things like security, fencing, and debit machines were not required then.
"All of these things are adding to the cost of the festival, and I think we really should look at raising the price to get in to compensate for some of those costs."
Councillor Mark Carrick said the rainy weather was to blame for the 11 per cent decrease in attendance.
"So I think we're in good shape. If we need to look at bumping it up a little bit, okay, but if we would have had nice weather I think it would have been just as good and we wouldn't be having a $2,700 overrun, which really, that size of event, $2,700, it's money, but it's not $27,000."
The deficit will be paid through the festival reserve fund, which at the time of the council meeting had a balance of $100,000.
Ultimately council did not make any changes to how the festival will be run for 2025, and expects to receive another report back from administration in the new year.
Council did vote however in favour of the festival remaining at the Vollmer Complex until there is appropriate infrastructure available at LaSalle Landing.
-With files from AM800's Rusty Thomson