Lower ticket prices to get into Alexandra's Pioneer Park after the 2010 Blossom Festival procession should make the day more affordable for families, the organisers say.
The price has been dropped in response to comments made at a public meeting on the future of the event earlier this year suggesting festival entertainment was too expensive, committee chairwoman Clair Higginson said yesterday.
"When setting the prices, there were three things we needed to take into consideration. We needed to make it affordable and recognise the different structure of families, we had to balance out the amount of income we needed to stage the event, and we had to make it easy for the gate people on the day."
The float procession will take place on Saturday, September 25, but people can buy discounted tickets from early September until Thursday, September 23. The tickets are for entry to the park where the Contact Saturday in the Park events are held after the parade.
Individual tickets have replaced family tickets and for groups of five or more, entry will cost $4 a person, with pre-schoolers free.
"It should work out cheaper than the former family ticket, which was for two adults and up to three children and didn't really recognise the different ways family groups are made up," she said.
Several issues were raised at the public meeting and the committee was working its way through those.
"There was a strong voice about the importance of Blossom Festival. The committee working on this festival is aware the festival does not belong to the committee, or the event manager, but belongs to the community," Ms Higginson said.
Earlier this year, there was some doubt whether the festival would continue, following three successive years of losses. However, the Vincent Community Board agreed to pay off the 2009 festival debts and the community rallied in support of the event.
The Central Lakes Trust has also shown its support for this year's festival in the form of a $20,000 grant.
Trust chief executive Paul Allison said the grant acknowledged the efforts of the Alexandra community to return the event to its traditional values.
