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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-10-19, Page 28PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017. Organizers under fire for deleting critical comments Time to duel Wand duels were a big hit with children at the Festival of Wizardry, which was held at the Blyth campground on Saturday. Despite wet conditions, the festival went ahead on Saturday, but was forced into cancellation due to extreme weather on Sunday. (Quinn Talbot photo) Continued from page 1 at the Nick's Death Day mocktail ice bar on the arena floor, but that didn't happen on Sunday," Swartz said. "We won't know what effect the cancellation will have until we go through our debriefing." He also said the donations from the classes being taught at the Borealis School for Wizardry at Blyth Memorial Hall would factor into that number. The classes were by donation and Swartz said they expected most people to pay $2, however he said he saw many people donating much more than that which may factor into the donation being closer to that $20,000 goal in the end. Swartz said a full debriefing is set for early next month at which point numbers will be available from the event. He said there may be some considerations from some service providers for the event as the grounds weren't used for the two full days. Alongside the Food Action Network donation, Swartz said Transfigured Town intends to keep its commitments to local groups that will receive donations as a result of their involvement with the event including local skating clubs, high school student councils, St. John Ambulance, the Blyth and Londesborough Lions Club and the Lucknow Kinsmen Music in the Fields committee. Swartz said that local community groups and local businesses were great for participation in the event. Blyth's downtown businesses were visibly involved in the event, he said, and added that Huron Tractor had provided transportation for volunteers and Transfigured Town staff on the grounds at no cost. "It all paid off because it was great to see Blyth so busy," he said. Not everyone was happy with the announcement of the closure, however, and some people had criticisms of the event. Those criticisms found their way to Facebook and were attached to the announcement of the closure. After some time, Facebook users began to notice that posts were being removed, which Swartz explained was done by Transfigured Town's staff for various reasons. "We did erase some comments," he said. "There were some that were posted by people who weren't ticket holders. We have had a few people who have been reacting negatively to everything since we moved from Goderich and some of the comments came from those camps" He said unnecessarily rude comments or misleading comments were also removed. "We're in our second year, so we welcome the constructive criticism from people that will help make the event better," he said. "We won't remove those." Some of the criticisms that accompanied the post included lack of organization, lack of activities and lack of communication. The post has since been hidden from Transfigured Town's Facebook page but is still accessible through links. Approximately 700 comments have been removed from the original post and people have complained about the removal of the comments. Swartz explained that its Facebook page is a storefront for an organization like Transfigured Town and not removing intentionally misleading or unnecessarily negative remarks is similar to leaving offensive graffiti on a storefront. "That is our business and we need to make sure it's clean," he said. One of the recurring themes in the Facebook conversation was about compensation for those who hadn't had a chance to use their tickets as a result of the closure. Swartz said an announcement regarding that situation would be made this week — it had yet to be made at press time. He said approximately 1,800 tickets weren't accounted for at the end of the day on Saturday. As for future Festival of Wizardry events, Swartz said he hopes that next year the event can take place in Blyth. "We have a debriefing with North Huron staff, OPP and other stakeholders scheduled and will receive feedback then, but we're definitely still looking at Blyth," Swartz said. "If there is a will for it to happen again on all sides, it could go ahead." He said the Blyth Campground was an amazing space for the event and the only concern they had was the impact of the wet weather on parking and the land afterwards. The 2018 Festival of Wizardry is scheduled for Oct. 13 and 14 and includes several more events and activities than this year's did. For information and for ticket sales, visit transfiguredtown.com The next event for Transfigured Town will also be held in the Blyth area as the Festival of Thrones, a medieval -fantasy focused event, is set to take place at Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company in June of next year. • The Cl<1\41/\�rHiealth Hr er es CE t2- Saturday, Saturday, October gamtoSpm on AM920, CKNX.CA, 101.7 The One Be a Healthcare Hero —Support Wingham & District Hospital Foundation 2017 Radiothon Project Goal: $90000 towards an anesthetic Give today at wdhfoundation.ca «J[ 2lSt & 94.5 Classic Rock the kin \-4 Wingham &District Hospital Foundation machine i If we all give a little, we all get a lot!