If you\u2019re a Nuit Blanche North fan, you\u2019ll need to make other plans for the evening of the second Saturday in July 2016.<\/p>\n
The key organizers of the popular interactive multi-arts street festival are taking a one-year hiatus, which means the event will not be taking place next summer. Founder Dan Watson of Edge of the Woods Theatre says the break will give him a chance to work on long-term funding and do some professional development that will help ensure the event\u2019s future success.<\/p>\n
Funding is the biggest issue facing Nuit Blanche North, which has been held as part of the Huntsville Festival of the Arts every July since 2011 and attracted about 7,000 people to downtown Huntsville in 2015. \u201cThe event runs on government funding, for the most part,\u201d Watson explains. \u201cOne of the challenges is that we always found out very late. For example, we\u2019d find out at the end of March if it was a go, so planning was difficult. The idea is to take a year off and try to get ahead of that, get funds earlier so we can do more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another challenge, according to Watson, is that funding tends to be awarded for new initiatives. \u201cWe need to figure out how to keep this thing growing and what we are doing next \u2013 what\u2019s new and how to sustain what we have. It\u2019s always a puzzle and a challenge, so hopefully this period will help us out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watson is also excited to have the opportunity to spend time in the coming year with experienced organizers of other large-scale arts events. His formal training is in creating and performing work, not in management, and he says trying to figure out all the moving pieces has always been tricky, even with support from the Festival. In 2015, more than 120 artists took part in the event. \u201cThere were a lot of balls being juggled,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been learning on my feet, and in the winter I\u2019m going to be taking some time to learn from others,\u201d Watson says. \u201cI\u2019m having a bit of a mentorship in Toronto to learn how people do these planning cycles, how they plan for it, what kind of options are out there, that sort of thing. It\u2019s actually a bit of a professional development period for me. I\u2019ll get some tools and more ideas to bring back to Nuit Blanche North.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watson knows many people will be disappointed to miss the event this year. However, his goal is to spend this year ensuring that Nuit Blanche North will remain strong and viable for many years to come.<\/p>\n\n\t\t