Plans have fallen through, and the action sport and music festival Shake the Lake will not be held in Sylvan Lake this year.
Announced on Shake the Lake’s Facebook Page on July 11, the festival will not be occurring due to “circumstances beyond their control.”
“It’s sad news for us, and we know it is sad news for many of our fans, too,” the Facebook post reads.
In an email, Sean McIntyre said with things missing a month out from the festival date, a call had to be made.
“There are a multitude of moving parts in a festival the size of Shake The Lake, and when we reached this week with some key elements yet to be fulfilled and some key circumstances changing, we knew we had to make the call,” said McIntyre.
The post does not say if the Shake the Lake team is calling it quits on the festival, instead they are telling fans to “never say never.”
McIntyre says the group behind the festival is always looking and striving for ways to make Sylvan Lake better, and that won’t stop becasue the festival isn’t being held this year.
“As far as the future is concerned, our group is always thinking of ways to build community. There’s always the chance that new things could be built on the foundations that have been established,” McIntyre said.
He says the festival was only possible becasue of the “amazing group of volunteers and local sponsors and partners.”
Those who have worked behind the scenes, volunteered and sponsored the event in the past were thanked multiple times throughout the post.
“We are thankful for the difference and the impact we made together, and we cherish the relationships that we’ve built along the way,” the post said.
McIntyre says there are hundreds of people who have been working and volunteering their time to see Shake the Lake be a success.
And the festival has grown and changed since its inseption, which McIntyre credits to the hard work of the numerous volunteers.
“An enormous amount of work has been put in to the festival since we started, and I really want to honour and recognize all of our volunteers, and especially our core organizing team, for the thousands and thousands of volunteer hours they have put in to make Shake The Lake successful and fun for so many people,” said McIntyre.
“I’m only one volunteer in that large group, and we have all been pouring their hearts in to this”.
The Facebook post continued to encourage others to their dreams, no matter how difficult or monumental it may seem at the time.
“We encourage you, if you have a dream to do something cool for other people, go for it! You’d surprised what you can accomplish,” the social media post said. “Don’t be afraid to start small; you never know where you’ll end up.”
The sport and music festival would have celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and had been planned for Aug. 10-11, 2018.
Shake the Lake began as a passion project a decade ago by co-founders McIntyre, Darcy Fullerton and Craig Seifert. McIntyre said it began with a dream over coffee.
“Shake The Lake started with a dream to do something cool in our community, to bless the people with a great time with music, action sports, and family activities; to make great memories and to do it all for free and with no strings attached.”
With the cancellation if this year’s event, McIntyre wanted to take the time to recognize the effort of co-founders Fullerton and Seifert, both of whom have passed away in recent years.
“We miss them, and without those two Shake The Lake would not have even got off the ground. Looking back, we could only dream then, of how far we would go.”