There were fewer cars at this year’s Bracebridge Father’s Day Car Show than last year.
The revelation came from Coun. Liam Cragg at a council meeting on Wednesday, June 27. Cragg said compared to the 230 cars that appeared at last year’s show, only 150 vehicles were on display during the Manitoba Street festival this year.
This year, the Bracebridge BIA had to contend with unanticipated competition from Gravenhurst, which decided to hold its annual car show just one day prior. Last year, the two car shows were a held a week apart.
“We’re unsure whether the timing of the event or the weather were factors,” said Cragg. “The morning of Father’s Day was threatening rain and storm, so it might have prevented some people from bringing their cars in.”
While Cragg said visitor traffic and merchant sales were largely unchanged, the Gravenhurst event did draw 439 cars, about three times the number of vehicles at the Bracebridge show. However, Cragg noted that the “two events are quite different.”
The back-to-back schedule was announced in April, when Gravenhurst said it had a scheduling conflict this year with its traditional time slot.
Cragg said the Bracebridge BIA will continue to work toward improving the Bracebridge car show for next year.