In its first year as the rebranded K-Days, the event saw a 5.6 percent attendance increase, from last year’s 740,339 at the final Edmonton’s Capital Ex to 781,743 in 2013.
“I think it was a lot of different things,” said Jennifer Sheehan, public relations manager at Northlands, the park which hosts K-Days. “The weather always plays a factor. But with this year as the first year for K-Days, we recognize that it’s more than a name; it’s the programming we put into place. So this year we really ramped up the programming.”
K-Days, held July 19-28 in Edmonton, Alberta, started out as Klondike Days, but in 2006, fair officials changed the name to Capital Ex.
“With Klondike Days, what we noticed was that Klondike Days did not resonate with a lot of individuals,” Sheehan said. However, "Capital Ex" also did not resonate. So we gave it to them. We told the community, ‘This is your chance to decide.'"
First, community members could submit nominations to fair officials at Northlands, who then narrowed it down to six choices.
“And the community had the opportunity to vote on what they wanted the festival to be called,” Sheehan said.
About 50,000 votes came in and more than 30,000 of those votes were for K-Days, so it was the clear and decisive winner.
“So the community decided on K-Days,” Sheehan said. “The response was overwhelming.”
Sheehan did not have any figures on the cost to change the name but noted that the facility has an in-house sign-making operation, so that mitigated the cost of changing signage.
North American Midway Entertainment placed 48 rides on the midway, said Scooter Korek, VP of client services, including the new Mach 3 by KMG in Holland that “proved to be very successful.”
NAME was up 12 percent, Korek added, which he attributed to good weather and the fair’s “exceptional programming.”
For gate admission and ride passes, fairgoers had different choices, Sheehan said. For $29.99 Canadian ($29.14 U.S.), fairgoers could purchase a K-Days Pass for admission to the fair every day.
A one-day ticket was $14 Canadian ($13.60) or $10 ($9.72) in advance. For $45 ($43.72), a fairgoer could buy admission and a ride-all-day pass for one day, she added.
In another change, the fair introduced an outdoor entertainment stage, the Koodonation Stage, sponsored by a cable company.
In addition to standing around the stage to catch the concert, fairgoers also could spend time at the nearby Boardwalk Beach and Beer Garden, which featured a rib cook-off called Ribfest every evening. The Boardwalk Beach offered the opportunity to play regulation beach volleyball all day into the evening.
“Ribfest wasn’t new but it was in a different location,” Sheehan said. “What we heard was that people wanted things to engage in and take part in. So we partnered with the Edmonton Sport & Social Club and they had their league games on the beach.
That was for one or two days. “The rest of the time, the fairgoers could play.”
Several artists appeared each day. The lineup included, July 19, Joshua Seth, Boogie Wonder Band, Ladies of the Canyon, Burton Cummings; July 20, Joshua Seth, Boogie Wonder Band, By Starlight, Carly Rae Jepsen; July 21, Joshua Seth, Lisa Hewitt, Chad Brownlee, Dallas Smith; Juy 22, Joshua Seth, Jordan Craig, Bryan Finlay, Anami Vice, Down With Webster; July 23, Joshua Seth, Nuela Charles, Politic Live, Kayo, Classified; July 24, Hypnotist Dale K, Blue Moon Swamp, Kaylee Johnston, Dragonette; July 25, Hypnotist Dale K, Blue Moon Swamp, Crystal Shawanda, Colin James; July 26, Hypnotist Dale K, U2 tribute band U4, Arkells, Matt Mays; July 27, Hypnotist Dale K, U4, Cygnets, Platinum Blonde; July 28, Hypnotist Dale K, Klondike Kapers, The Red Cannons and The Tea Party.
K-Days still uses traditional print and broadcast advertising while still making inroads into social media, Sheehan said.
For instance, fairgoers could send in photos of themselves and they would be inserted into the K-Days logo on Facebook and on digital billboards around the city as part of the “See Yourself in the K” promotion, Sheehan said.
“We also had multiple Twitter and Facebook contesting for people to win tickets,” she added. “Basically, our social media put out a tweet that said, ‘Retweet this and enter your name for tickets,’ or ‘Tell us your favorite memory at K-Days.’ Every Tuesday was Ticket Tuesday. There was a different contest on Tuesdays leading up to the fair.”
K-Days also offered fairgoers a mobile app that allowed customers to see the food map as well as height requirements for rides and the musical headliners.
The name and programming changes worked well, as evidenced by the higher attendance, Sheehan said.
“From my perspective, I think it was really well-received,” she said. “That was the name they chose. They were vocal about the fact that they liked the name. If you look on social media, they were pleased with the name and the programming changes we made this year.”
Next year’s dates will be July 18-27.
Interviewed for this article: Jennifer Sheehan, (780) 471-7303