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The 2026 Snowbird Extravaganza was still on the RP Funding Center’s calendar until the fall of 2025 when it was abruptly canceled, according to Cindy Collins, executive director of the RP Funding Center.
The expo was first held in Florida in 1995 and was billed as Medipac International Communications Inc.’s “flagship event.”
Since 2001, the two-day Snowbird Extravaganza has been held in Lakeland, welcoming thousands of visitors. It catered to long-term Canadian tourists with entertainment and vendors who provided information about the area, gave away samples and offered discounted tickets to attractions.
The expo is typically held each year at the end of January. On Jan. 26 of this year, the cancellation was announced in a post on Snowbird Extravaganza’s Facebook page. Medipac has also canceled their 2026 events in Arizona and Texas.
Collins said that the RP Funding Center has filled the vacancy left by the Snowbird Extravaganza, but she hopes to see them return in the future.
“I think it was great for the community, and it was fun,” she said. “I thought that the people had a really great time when they were here.”
No significant vendor traction
Christopher Davidge, president of Medipac, said the decision to cancel wasn’t easy.
In July 2025, Medipac ran a marketing campaign to attract vendors for the 2026 event. They reached out to previous vendors and sponsors and new potential vendors and sponsors.
“If there was going to be any market that you could depend on to come to Florida this year, especially to Central Florida, it’s the Canadian Snowbird — it’s the long term visitor that owns property in Florida,” Davidge said. “So that was our marketing pitch to try and attract vendors to the event this year.”
Davidge said the response was disappointing. “We just didn’t get any significant traction with our marketing efforts to draw in new sponsors and new vendors.” As a result, they chose to cancel the event.
“We used to have everything from theme parks to department stores to pharmaceutical companies,” Davidge said. “Everything that they could need under the sun used to be part of the Snowbird Extravaganza experience. We were quite proud to provide that all under one roof for over two decades.”
Changing strategies
Businesses told Davidge they’re changing marketing strategies. “Some of the sponsors that we spoke with said they aren’t allocating any money towards free samples and giveaways like they used to,” he said. “They’re finding new ways to reach people with social media, online advertising, email lists, online newsletters.”
He said the pandemic also had an effect on consumers, especially the older audience targeted by the Snowbird Extravaganza. “The pandemic really changed people’s mindsets on where they want to go and how they want to behave and how many people they want to be around,” he said.
However, Central Florida remains a significant market for Medipac because of its popularity among snowbirds. “We’re looking at a lot of different options to reach Canadians and American winter residents,” Davidge said. “It just doesn’t seem like the special event model is as successful as it used to be.”
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