Holyrood council pleased with another successful Squidfest

By Mark Squibb / August 18, 2023

Another Squidfest has come and gone, and Holyrood council says that this year’s festival, the thirty-fourth of its kind, was yet another success.

“Squidfest went over well,” said Recreation and Community Events Chairman Curtis Buckle during the July 25 public meeting, the first since the festival ended earlier this summer. Holyrood council’s next meeting is set for next week.

“We’re going to have a debriefing now on all the events, and the pros and the cons, and see if we can’t make some changes on some things, and we’ll be reaching out to council too.”

Buckle went on to say that every event was well attended, and that, perhaps most importantly, the weather cooperated.

“So, overall, everything went well but we’re going to look at every individual event, look at the pros and cons, and have a debriefing to see where we can make changes for next year, and hopefully next year will be even better than next year,” he concluded.

Mayor Gary Goobie said the festival was yet another fantastic and successful Squidfest.

“The weather was nice, but not too hot,” said Goobie, who added that all events were well-attended.

“We have to keep in mind that these events take months and months and months of planning and coordination and putting all of this together,” he added. “Our recreation director Steve Martin has done another bang-up job as he does every year. But he can’t do this on his own — it requires volunteers. And we know that we have volunteers in our community who are totally dedicated to Squidfest and to Crystal Carnival every year. They’ve been with us for years and years and years and they truly love what they do.”

Councillor Sadie King noted her personal thanks to members of staff who also work hard to make Squidfest a success each and every year. Councillor Laura Crawley said she too enjoyed Squidfest, and added she was glad to see the Wine and Chocolate Night promote wines and chocolates crafted by local businesses in Conception Bay South and Conception Bay Centre.