Article content

When CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie was in Edmonton for the Labour Day rematch between the Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders, he made the promise.

Without revealing any of the plans until they were announced in detail at a planned press conference, Ambrosie guaranteed they’d be “bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger than anybody has done before in the league.”

So, how big is it?

So big, organizers expect it will result in profits going toward the building of a $2.5-million inflatable dome to put up over the field at Commonwealth Stadium every winter as a legacy.

So big, the budget just for the festival part of the production, not including the game itself, will top $12 million and include more than 30 live entertainment acts — in all about a million dollars of expenses aimed at entertainment alone.

Commissioner Ambrosie was the advance man for Wednesday’s press conference at the Shaw Convention Centre, which will be ground zero for the festival that set the bar for Grey Cup hosting the last time it was here in 2010.