After hosting the finale in 2017, Canada will welcome Formula E once again, but this time it will be Vancouver the stage for a major event in the making.
The city will host for the first time in the electric single-seater series, which will be a full three-day affair with the Canadian “E-Fest”. The festival will offer plenty of action off the track, such as a trade conference on sustainability, concerts and entertainment including an e-sports tournament.
With just under 100 days to go, promoters reported that 30,000 tickets have already been sold. “I got a call from Formula E and they can’t believe we have so many tickets sold with three months to go,” said Anne Roy, Co-Founder and Partner of One Stop Strategy Group, or OSS, the organizing company. “In all their other races, tickets sell out at the last minute,” she added.
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Roy, who is an exalted legend in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, assured that this year’s E-Fest will not repeat the problems of the 2017 Formula E event in Montreal, which became a major political and controversial issue. The city’s inspector general reported in 2018 that former Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre had ignored legal advice and circumvented rules to hold the event.
Aspects to be Resolved
Although the Vancouver race promotion team stresses that the entire organization is on track, there are still elements of a formal nature that must be met for the race to become a reality.
The city’s special events department has not yet issued a permit for the event, but this would be finalized after the organizers submit several planning documents, including a safety plan, traffic management plan, community benefits agreement and outdoor concert licenses.
Through an official statement, Vancouver officials noted that approval of the E-Prix will be contingent on these documents being submitted, reviewed and approved by the city’s Office of Film and Special Events.
“Complex event planning requires more effort in its first year, and the city is monitoring progress closely and is in frequent contact with the event organizer to help ensure that everything is in order in a timely manner,” the release adds.
Written by I Jhonattan González
