Vancouver NYE party cancelled due to lack of funds

If you were planning to ring in 2015 at the big downtown Vancouver fireworks party announced earlier this year, think again.

The New Year's Eve Celebration Society has shelved this year's inaugural bashset to be the first major free NYE party the city had seen in a decadedue to lack of funds.

CharlesGauthier, chair of the societyand president of the Downtown Business Association, said Thursday that the organization had fallen short in fundraising for the party, which was budgeted at $300,000.

"We had a funding gap," Gauthier said. "It works out to about $100,000."

The $200,000 that was raised came through around a dozen sponsorsincluding Tourism Vancouver, the Convention Centre and Starbucks.

But others, Gauthier said, were less willing to go out on a limb on an unproven event.

"In some camps, it was they weren't going to be the pioneers," he said. "They said, 'come back when you have a few years under your belt.'"

Rather than scale back the event, organizers decided to postpone until next year but, Gauthier warns, if they can't get additional sponsors by August 2015, they will be in the same position as this year.

He added that even if someone comes forward with the needed money today, it's already too late at this point to make the party a reality this year.