The Edmonton area has seen three festivals impacted by severe weather in the last week, including at the grounds of the Edmonton Heritage Festival. Those who provide insurance for events in Canada say that it could be more difficult to get here in Alberta.
“I think regionally we will see differences in underwriting. I think insurers are, I mean they already are, looking at weather more differently than they used to. Because we are seeing more overland flooding, we are seeing more powerful storms coming through in Canada,” said Steve Beatty, Front Row Insurance Brokers.
Last week, a storm proved deadly. One person was killed and dozens injured an hour northwest of Edmonton at the Westlock Meditation Centre after a tent collapsed following strong winds.
READ MORE: 1 dead, several injured after tent collapses at meditation centre north of Edmonton
The cloud of that tragedy hung over event organizers this past weekend.
Country superstar Keith Urban playing from his tour bus, after Big Valley Jamboree canceled his Sunday night show due to saftey concerns with an ongoing storm.
The same storm hitting Edmonton, heavy rain crushing tents and bending poles at heritage festival, forcing them to end their weekend. Organizers and Edmonton’s mayor are asking Edmontonians to donate to the festival to help recover costs.
“Cause a lot of these organizations that put together the festival are volunteers, and it’s run by volunteers. And they rely on this festival for their day-to-day operations and it’s a major festival for them,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
Beatty agrees, saying as event insurance providers become more specific on what they will and won’t cover when it comes weather. Smaller festivals with smaller budgets will be the most the impacted.
Adding, it’s not just weather, more and more insurance providers aren’t covering cancellations due to wildfire smoke.
“I got to tell you, with all the variability right now on so many things, the insurers aren’t jumping up and down to offer much broader coverage than they’ve already been offering,” explained Beatty.