The City of Portage la Prairie has deemed the Portage Potato Festival as the city's “signature annual event."

In an effort to help the event receive approval for a provincial grant, council resolved at its meeting Monday night to sign a letter of support to bestow the Potato Festival the “signature event” title.

Community Services Committee chair Brent Froese says the Potato Festival has grown over the past 13 years and the event's organizing committee applied for federal funding for this year's festival, but did not receive as much as hoped.

“As it gets larger, with no admission charged, it gets to be more expensive to run the event. And the federal funding that was applied for isn't going to be enough to meet this year's budget,” Froese explains. “They are able to apply for a provincial grant, but only if the city labels the event our signature event ... the single most important city-sponsored event of the year.”

The Potato Festival occurs every August in Portage la Prairie. Administration's report to council describes it as a free community celebration of local people, talent and agriculture. The event also caters to families, including many children's activities and entertainment. Local music, local vendors and a baseball tournament are some of the other highlights of the Potato Fest. And, of course, free french fries.

Council decided to limit the provision for the Potato Fest as the city's signature event to this year to leave flexibility to allow other events to be considered for similar granting purposes in future.

"It's possible that sometime in the future that could change, but at this point the Potato Festival is now our signature event," Froese notes.