It’s been rough waters for Wakefest in Bala and now the event has been cancelled.
The cable park in Bala is the heart of the wakeboarding community in Muskoka. This is where Mickey Henry spends afternoons with friends and says he got his start in wakeboard competitions at Wakestock in the late 90's before the event grew to be one of the largest action sport festivals in the country.
“It was the first event that the whole wakeboard industry came up to Canada to see what we were doing up here and all of the local kids had, the chance to get out and ride with the best pros in the world it was great,” says Henry.
Wakestock started in Bala almost 20 years ago. It then moved to Toronto, Wasaga Beach and Collingwood, before returning to Bala on a smaller scale last summer.
This year the event has been officially postponed. A posting on the Wakestock website says the scheduled dates in August conflicted with other events and apologizes to partners and participants.
The website also says Wakestock will return next year, but industry insiders say the parent company of the event, SBC Media, has run into financial difficulties. Calls to their office in Toronto have not yet been returned.
The event was planned to take place on Aug. 6 and Aug. 7. Marcel Siegnoret says it’s a sad day for wakeboarding and for local resorts and restaurants.
“This year it would have been a lot bigger and the businesses aren't going to do as well because that's a few thousand people that aren't going to be here for that one weekend,” he says.
