THE Sugar Festival Committee received very little support from the business community this year.
Committee president Hem Raj said this made it difficult for the organisers to put together a carnival worthy of Lautoka City’s premier festival.
“The Sugar Festival is Lautoka’s and we all know it is an event that every resident looks forward to every year,” he said.
“But over the years it lost a lot of support and it reached a point where it was held in very small areas of Lautoka City.
“So when we took over last year we made a commitment to bring it back to the Churchill Park carnival grounds.”
He said with the return of the festival to its prime location, the committee managed to attract support from small businesses.
“We are very grateful to our small enterprises, the BBQ stall owners, juice sellers and small restaurants who were willing to book a stall for the week.
“And we paid our entertainment ride owners who brought in new and fun rides which added to the festival’s fun atmosphere.
“But even with all of these really good features, we are still a charity event and it is meant to raise money.”
He said they would not be able to raise their target amount as a result.
“If we had the support we needed from the bigger business houses we would have been able to reach our target.
“From what we have so far, we were able to gain the funds to pay off our entertainment ride operators and pay off all of our expenses.
“We have a few more left for our charity fund but it is not the amount we were hoping to raise.
“But that does not mean the festival was not a success even though we did not have a lot of support.”
