Brome Lake Duck Festival kicks off after almost being scrapped
The annual Brome Lake Duck Festival kicks off today after the town scrambled to find someone to organize it as recently as four months ago.
In May, the town appointed local residents Armand Gaudet and Michel Fournier as this year's organizers.
"Some people were indicating there wouldn't be a festival this year," Gaudet said. "So Michel and I sat down, put a proposal together and submitted it to the town."
Gaudet said the town's reliance on tourism is what motivated them to organize it this year. The event generates about $2 million in revenue every year for the town.
With this being their first time organizing the festival, Gaudet said he and his partner wanted to try something different.
"We wanted to bring it more to the foodie approach," he said.
"We're trying to attract people that have curiosity about foods, enjoy good eating and discovering new items, new foods and new ideas."
At least 20 food tents featuring duck, wine and cheese will be set up on a closed-off street. Exhibitors will have individual tents, which Gaudet believes will lead to a more personal interaction with visitors.
'The whole region looks forward to it'
Ginette Couture moved to Brome Lake a little less than two years ago, but said she has already gotten a sense of how important the event is.
"I think the town looks forward to it, the whole region looks forward to it," Couture said. "Last year, a lot of Montrealers came and I used to hear about the duck festival when I lived in Montreal."
Town councillor Thomas McGovern agrees, saying the festival is a vehicle to promote the community.
"This town is low on people and we need them to come and see what's going on and help us put the town back on the map."
Transition year
With only four months to spare, Gaudet said he was encouraged with the amount of people who wanted to set up kiosks.
"The response was extremely good," he said. "A lot of people are coming back, we were able to contact them and indicate to them what we wanted to do."
Nevertheless, Gaudet sees the 2016 festival as a transition period since Brome Lake Ducks could not lend as much support as before due to the fire that destroyed its facilities in July.
This year, the festival is being held on one weekend compared to two weekends in previous years.
Gaudet said it's too soon to commit to organizing next year's duck festival, but said he does have a vision for it moving forward — a month-long lead-up to the festival.
"September would be 'duck month,'" he said. "And we could use all of the venues that are available to us – restaurants, hotels – and really promote duck during the whole month."
