Formula E had a successful season in 2022. Events in places like New York, Seoul and Monaco have hosted some exciting, close-knit races for all-electric single-seaters. However, there is one notable omission in this year’s calendar: a race in Vancouver.
When the schedule for season eight was first announced, Formula E plans to hold an event in the Canadian city of Vancouver as part of a festival dedicated to all things electric. However, in April, race organizers One Stop Strategy (OSS) Group canceled the race.
At the time, the organizer was based in Montreal said in a statement:
“After careful consideration with the City of Vancouver, the OSS Group has had to make the extremely difficult decision to postpone the Canada E-Fest until 2023. The City of Vancouver fully supports the postponement. Organizing a world-class event is of paramount importance to the organization. We will be contacting ticket holders to inform their options.”
But when FE announces next year’s calendarevent is still absent.
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Now, nearly five months later, ticket holders are still waiting to hear their options, and an investigation of Vancouver Sun had found that the race ended well from the start. The report paints a pretty bad picture of event organization, with Vancouver Sun Report:
For more than a year before the event was canceled in April, several city departments discussed the unanswered questions and unusual challenges associated with the ill-fated event, saying that organization’s ‘repeated failure or neglect to comply’ with standard event licensing requirements.
The newspaper disclosed details of the event through a free request to the city of Vancouver. The requests revealed papers showing that officials in the city were initially hopeful about the push to host a race Formula E could bring to the city.
It will be put Vancouver together with places like LondonBerlin, Jakarta and Mexico City are among the host cities of the Formula E race. The ticket sale will provide a “much-needed boost” to tourism in the city as it seeks to recover from its post. Covid-19 pandemic.
But Vancouver Sun reports that warnings about the event were issued as early as March 2021. Internal communications obtained by the newspaper warned that there was “significant reputational risk and concerns financial concerns for the City of Vancouver.”
Chief among those risks is the timeframe in which the event will be held, and concerns about this persist as the race draws closer.
Initially, the OSS organizers went so far as to ask the city for “pre-approval” to host the race in Vancouver. Thankfully, city officials “do not recommend” this happen. The Sun report:
The request raised concern among city employees, the document said, noting: ‘The city has a well-established process for issuing event permits’ and ’employees have no right to substitute current event licensing process, or a commitment with the city to an event prior to consultation and approval’ from affected departments, including police, fire, park management, and management traffic.
From there, the problems continued to occur. OSS repeatedly missed deadlines or filed incomplete paperwork. This culminated in March 2022 when the company failed to demonstrate that it had secured insurance for the event.
Authorization must also be demonstrated. from landowners in the area to organize races on their properties.
OSS is give some time to try to give such information to city officials who are desperate to salvage the troubled event. However, the company “repeatedly failed or failed to comply” with the requirements set forth by the city’s film and special events office for a race permit. The Vancouver Sun adds:
For months up until that point, city staff maintained an internal ‘working document’ that tracked the status of certain items that the OSS needed to deliver before the city hall could issue permits. As of April 21 – less than 70 days before the event was scheduled to begin – it appears that most elements have never been completed, including the schedule, public safety plan and copy of the map. Engineer’s drawings for structures including stages and stands.
Information such as traffic management plans are not provided and details outlining the construction of large structures such as grandstands are not approved by a certified engineer, one of the requirements to be licensed to hold a concert. such events in Vancouver.
All of this meant that the event was finally postponed to April 2022, just three months before it was set to take place. But that doesn’t end the woes, as ticket holders are still waiting for a refund for the race.
It wasn’t until June 2022 that OSS announced that it would begin refunding tickets to customers. But Vancouver Sun reports that so far there is “no update” on when customers can get a refund. The article added:
It was a bitter experience for Shannon Campbell, a resident of Tsawwassen. As a single mom, spending $420 on two E-Fest tickets is a stress for Campbell, but she wants to reward her 17-year-old daughter Sophia, a hugely celebrated racing fan. 16th birthday celebration. restrictions due to pandemic.
For months now, Campbell’s requests for a refund have been silenced.
In the background of all the drama surrounding this Canadian event, Formula E has managed to distance itself from the OSS organizers. In its nine-season calendar, no Vancouver events scheduled and the sport speaks to Vancouver Sun that it had “terminated all contractual arrangements with OSS Group.”
The Formula E statement also calls for OSS to take action and refund ticket holders. Statement added:
Our immediate expectation is that the OSS Group urgently issue a public statement regarding the refund process for this season’s canceled race.
