A popular downtown Sarnia event held yearly for nearly two decades is taking a break.
After drawing thousands of people over 16 years, Artwalk's board of directors announced the summertime festival won't be held in 2019.
Chair Nathan Colquhoun said they're taking a year to recruit and explore new directions.
"At this point, we're either looking for an organization to take on Artwalk or a few volunteers to run the entire event," said Colquhoun. "We're hoping to use this year off to get a solid plan in place to carry it into the future. So if you're interested in helping, you can contact us at info@sarniaartwalk.com."
Colquhoun said they're in the black financially, but organizers need time to reenergize.
"It's been a lot of the same people that have been invested in this a long time, and a lot of different people who came on recently have also got their priorities kind of scattered, so we're just trying to get everything resembled and put back together," he said.
Artwalk co-founder Sean McKnight said he was surprised to hear the event won't be held in 2019.
McKnight, who stepped away from the Artwalk in 2016 after 14 years for family reasons and to pursue other endeavours, said he hopes it can return to the way it used to be.
"This year didn't really seem like Artwalk, and I know some of the artists and downtown business owners have spoken up a bit and were hoping it would go back to what it was. It was basically just a big community showcase," he said. "I don't really understand why [it's not returning in 2019]. It was a pretty simple thing to run. It was a community building event and it was just a matter of organizing the community."
Artwalk has been held annually in Sarnia since 2002.
