-by Anne Finlay-Stewart

Twenty-seven hours of holiday hoopla. Time will tell if the schedule is a winner.

Downtown Owen Sound will be the place to be from Friday, November 18 at 6 p.m. until Saturday night at 9. Moonlight Madness kicks things off Friday night, the Kiwanis Santa Claus parade marches through Saturday morning and the Festival of Northern Lights will switch on that evening.

A motion at Monday's city council meeting suggests that the celebration schedule does not suit everyone.

Last March the Festival of Northern Lights committee decided, reported and published that they were moving the opening night from Friday to Saturday with the hope of drawing more visitors from neighbouring communities. Meaford residents, for example, might be warmed up for more seasonal fun after their very popular holiday window unveiling on Friday the 18th .

Some of Owen Sound's downtown merchants who have found the Festival-goers a bonus to the "Moonlight Madness" extension of their business day, are unhappy with the change.

Frankly, said Councillor Richard Thomas at the council meeting, the bump in sales from the concurrent events provides some compensation for Santa Claus parade day - Owen Sound's "worst retail day of the year". He's quite right - some usual customers stay away because of crowds and parking, bundled-up parade-goers with children are not in the shopping mood, and downtown hollows out right after the parade as folks leave for lunch and naps. "Support Local" fans could buck that trend, but past experience shows – they don't.

The DIA (Downtown Improvement Area) and the city councillors who sat on its board were clearly asleep at the switch until now. Performers and dignitaries had committed and city guide books were printed with the Saturday date, so the Festival of Northern Lights organizers were in no position to make changes this week. If the weather is not a factor, numbers will tell whether the new schedule is a success, and for whom. Regardless, all the players have recognized that co-operation and communication are key to building win/win partnerships in a community the size of ours, and you can be sure the conversations will happen long before any 2017 decisions are made.