A whale of a new summer weekend festival is being added to Gloucester and Cape Ann's tourism calendar for the third weekend this July.
The first Whale Fest Gloucester is being organized by Edjeere Fairchild, who said the four-day event — planned for July 15 to 18 — would be the first of its kind in many ways.
The festival, said Fairchild, will have two components — "the scientific component,¬ and a great party celebrating one of the great local eco treasures, whale watching," she said during an informal gathering of local business and tourism activists hosted by the Cape Ann Business Incubator last week.
"Gloucester's whale watching makes great eco-tourism," she said, "because it attracts visitors who wish to¬ view the humpback and other species in their wild natural habitat rather than at places like SeaWorld, where the recent¬ attack on a trainer has sparked controversy about¬ keeping¬ whales in captivity."
Crediting the¬ collaborative efforts of Gloucester's block party planners, as well as the Gloucester Maritime Center, Whale Center of New England, Ocean Alliance and local whale-watch operators, Fairchild noted the spirit of collaboration that carried the evening in general, as talk turned to the need to "think outside the box" to compensate for reduced public funding for the city's tourism initiatives.¬
Last year's lack of funding¬ for the welcome center at Stage Fort Park was, for some, a wake-up call sounding the need for financial independence from City Hall, said John Orlando, who heads the city's Downtown Development Commission.
"Without the help of dedicated volunteers," Orlando said, "the park's welcome center would have all but closed. As it was, the volunteers managed to struggle along on a part-time basis, providing some semblance welcome and information to the city's visitors."¬
When traditional public funding fails to materialize, Orlando said, it's time to seek creative private sector solutions.
"There's strength in numbers," he said, echoing a sentiment shared by many as discussions focused on cooperative marketing initiatives.
Peter Jenner, appointed head of the new Tourism Board, Linn Parisi of Seaport Destination Marketing, Charles de Gaspe Beaubien of Easy Bus Rentals, and Bob Hastings, executive director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, all joined in reiterating the need to work together pro-actively to promote Gloucester as a unique destination offering authentic character, history and beauty.
"And whale watching," commented one observer, "don't forget whale watching!"
Joann MacKenzie can be reached at 979-283-7000, x3457, or jomackenzie@gloucestertimes.com.
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