Early reports indicate Cornucopia's main objective was achieved.
The official numbers are expected later this month on the fall festival created to attract more visitors to the resort at a slow time of the year. Lynn Chappell, the Tourism Whistler manager of partnerships, promotions and events, said that based on anecdotal information collected over the weekend there's strong evidence suggesting business was up through the Cornucopia weekend.
"We know that business levels were really good," said Chappell. "They were equal to or even better than last year. We know that business was particularly strong on Friday and Saturday."
According to Chappell, most of the people in the resort for the weekend were visiting specifically for Cornucopia.
"What we did see this year was a lot of last minute bookings," Chappell said. "It was very strong less than four days out and most people were staying one to two nights."
Sue Eckersley, the President of Watermark Communications, said there was a really great energy in the village and a good buzz about the events through the weekend.
"Event-wise, there wasn't anything that bombed and I think everything went really well," said Eckersley.
There was a glitch with one of the private residence events when a bus couldn't get to the home because of slippery roads.
"The guests, like troopers, walked close to half a kilometre in their high heels and their fancy dresses up hills," said Eckersley. "Everybody was in good spirits. They arrived at the house and wine glasses went into their hands. It speaks to the clientele who come to Whistler."
According to Eckersley, the anchor events all received positive feedback and she was particularly happy with the event put on by the Longhorn Pub because it was very accessible with an entry fee of only $15 with good value offered at the event.
She described this Cornucopia as her favourite so far.
The owner of the Bearfoot Bistro, Andre St. Jacques, said Masquerave returned to Cornucopia 46 tickets shy of selling out.
It was a big weekend for St. Jacques with his parking garage party starting at 7 p.m. and ending at 4 a.m. After the party ended, St. Jacques said he and a number of other people moved on to a private residence and kept up the fun for a few more hours.
"It was a big undertaking to use a garage and make it into a nightclub," said St. Jacques.
The entertainment at the event included body painted models dancing on raised platforms, DJ's, a laser light show, dancers, acrobats, live music performers and a number of art installations. St. Jacques commissioned a piece that will be donated to Whistler to acknowledge the community's contribution to One Drop, the charity St. Jacques is committed to supporting with a $100,000 donation. The amount of money Masquerave generated for One Drop wasn't known but St. Jacques said he is certain that he will continue fundraising for the organization through the winter. One Drop is dedicated to making clean water accessible to people in the third world.
St. Jacques originally planned to auction a body-painted Infiniti G3 during the event but it didn't seem right to him to conduct an auction during the party so it will be sold at some point in the future with proceeds going to One Drop.
According to St. Jacques, the party went smoothly from a security perspective. RCMP members in uniform made regular patrols through the venue and Genesis Security provided 20 security people who blended in with the crowd.
He said he was pleased with how many people his event brought into Whistler. Many people came from out of town specifically to participate in Masquerave either as a guest or to work at the event and most of those people paid for rooms somewhere.
There was one frustration for St. Jacques. He said the antiquated liquor laws in B.C. created a great deal of work.
"They make their points quite clear," St. Jacques said of his dealings with liquor inspectors. "They were in our establishment quite a few times. We didn't get a fine, for sure."
He said that because of how crazy Masquerave was in the past and his pushing of the boundaries in the early years he was presented with a multi-page contract that outlined strict guidelines of what could and couldn't be done. The body painted models, as an example, weren't permitted to pour any drinks and they had to be covered when they left their dancing stages for their breaks.
"It is all about the atmosphere and the ambience, so wherever we didn't do as much of the eroticism we really pushed the envelope by acrobats, the music, the level of artistry in the room was beyond what we have done in the past," said the bistro owner.
Mayor Ken Melamed said it is challenging for local businesses to work within the provincial liquor regulations.
"From what I saw people were able to deal with the issues even if they were last minute so from that perspective it went off okay," the mayor said. "But it was providing a level of red tape, let's call it, that we think can be resolved and make it a little easier for everybody."
Liquor law issues aside, Melamed said it was great to have Masquerave back and he saw many smiling faces in the resort, including a couple he met from Nanaimo who had their first date at Cornucopia and come back every year.
The Whistler RCMP were pleased overall with Cornucopia and said there were no major issues. Over the weekend just four people spent the night in police holding cells for public intoxication, which is lower than a typical weekend. The RCMP were also impressed by the level of security at ticketed events like the Casino Royale night at Ric's Grill and the Masquerave.
"Overall it was a huge success and we commend the planners of Casino Royale and the Masquerave for their private security for events," said Sergeant Shawn LeMay.
There was a high level of intoxication, but the police seldom had to intervene as the people were cared for by friends and loved ones most of the time.
One area of concern was the impaired drivers, some of whom attended Cornucopia events. "Our concern...is that people are driving and not making good choices with alcohol consumption," said Sgt. LeMay. "If you go to these events, have a plan before you leave home how you're going to get back and stick to it. If you're a designated driver, you must be sober, you have a responsibility for your passengers."
This was LeMay's second Cornucopia in Whistler, and his impression is that this year's event was better than last in terms of calls and the number of intoxicated people in the village.
Both St. Jacques and Eckersley are now looking ahead to Cornucopia next year. St. Jacques wants to create a bigger event and he believes the success of the event this weekend will make it easier for him to attract sponsors next year.
Eckersley hinted a new event might debut next year on the Saturday night at the Conference Centre and the festival might be extended beyond the current four-day format.
With files from Andrew Mitchell
