CELPIP® Writing Task 2 sample: Summer Street Festival Location Survey

Level 7 sample answer

178 words

I think the festival should move to Halden Park and stay two days.

The biggest reason is space. Last summer I went with my sister and her kids, and the main street was very crowded. We could not walk with the stroller, and we waited long time for food. In the park there is a lot of room for the stages, food trucks and a play area for kids. Also there is a big parking lot, so people from other towns can come easy.

Another reason is the shop owners. They pay rent and taxes all year, and they need weekend customers. If the street is closed even for one day, they still lose money. So moving the festival is better for them.

The problem is that the park is 4 km from downtown. Some seniors and people without a car can't walk there. But the society can run a shuttle bus every 20 minutes, like other festivals do.

In my opinion, Option A is the best choice. The festival can grow and the downtown can stay open.

Why this answer is at level 7

This level 7 answer clearly supports relocation and develops relevant points about space, shops and transport. Compared with the stronger answers, its reasoning is more straightforward, its vocabulary less precise, and its grammar less consistent.

• If the street is closed even for one day, they still lose money. — Content/Coherence: This connects relocation directly to the merchants' complaint. However, it treats any remaining sales loss as decisive; a stronger answer would explain why preserving both festival days outweighs the benefits of a shorter downtown event.
• so people from other towns can come easy. — Vocabulary: The meaning is clear, but “come easy” is an awkward expression for convenient travel. A stronger answer would use more precise language, such as explaining that parking makes the festival easier to reach for visitors from nearby towns.
• We could not walk with the stroller, and we waited long time for food. — Readability: The personal example makes overcrowding easy to picture. However, “waited long time” needs an article, and the sentence structure is basic. The stronger answers combine concrete examples with more consistently accurate and varied sentences.
• But the society can run a shuttle bus every 20 minutes, like other festivals do. — Task Fulfillment: The answer addresses the transport drawback instead of simply praising the park. A stronger response would develop the proposal's practicality, as the level 11 answer does by suggesting how merchant sponsorship could fund the shuttle.

Level 9 sample answer

196 words

I'd prefer Option B: keeping the festival on the main street, even if it means losing a day.

The downtown setting is what makes this festival special. Visitors wander between the artists' booths and the local cafés, and many of them discover shops they would never have noticed otherwise. My cousin Élise sells handmade pottery at the festival, and she says her best customers are people who stroll over from the bakery with a coffee in hand. In an open field 4 km away, that relaxed, small-town atmosphere would be lost, and the event could start to feel like any other fairground.

Moving to Halden Park would also create new costs and headaches. The society would have to rent a shuttle, portable washrooms and extra lighting, and those expenses could eat up its modest budget. Meanwhile, residents without cars, including seniors who live in the apartments near downtown, would depend on a bus that might be packed on a hot afternoon.

Admittedly, a one-day festival will feel rushed, and some artists may sell less. Still, it addresses the shop owners' concerns while keeping the festival in the heart of Vernon, so it's the compromise I'd support.

Why this answer is at level 9

This level 9 answer combines fluent language, a vivid downtown example and a clear concession about shortening the festival. Its main limitation compared with level 11 is that it asserts the compromise addresses merchants' concerns without fully explaining why the remaining disruption is acceptable.

• she says her best customers are people who stroll over from the bakery with a coffee in hand. — Content/Coherence: This example gives a concrete reason to preserve the downtown setting: casual visitors become customers for artists. A stronger argument would connect that benefit more directly to the shop owners who report losing weekend sales.
• those expenses could eat up its modest budget. — Vocabulary: “Eat up” expresses budget pressure naturally and economically. The level 11 answer achieves greater precision by connecting costs to an exhibitor's decision to participate; this answer could similarly explain what the added expenses would force the society to reduce.
• Admittedly, a one-day festival will feel rushed, and some artists may sell less. — Readability: The concession is grammatically controlled and signals a clear shift from benefits to drawbacks. A stronger answer would follow this smooth transition with a more developed explanation of why reduced selling time is an acceptable tradeoff.
• Still, it addresses the shop owners' concerns while keeping the festival in the heart of Vernon, — Task Fulfillment: The conclusion clearly supports the selected option and returns to the survey's central conflict. However, it leaves the benefit to concerned merchants implicit. A stronger response would explain how shortening the closure reduces their losses enough to justify retaining the downtown location.

Level 11 sample answer

190 words

While I'd miss the bustle of the main street, I believe the society should choose Option A and move the full two-day festival to Halden Park.

Shrinking the event to a single day would solve the merchants' problem only by weakening the festival itself. Many artists travel from Kelowna, Salmon Arm and Kamloops, and Rashad, a glassblower I know, told me he could hardly justify the fuel, the booth fee and a night in a motel for six hours of sales. If the most talented exhibitors stopped applying, the festival would lose precisely what draws visitors in the first place.

The park, moreover, offers room to grow. Its open field could accommodate a children's art tent and a shaded area for older visitors, neither of which fits on a street lined with storefronts and patios. Accessibility is the obvious drawback, but a shuttle leaving the downtown core every fifteen minutes, funded by a modest sponsorship from local merchants who would no longer lose a weekend of trade, could bridge the 4 km gap.

On balance, relocating protects both the festival and downtown shops, which is why I favour Option A.

Why this answer is at level 11

This level 11 answer builds a sustained case for preserving the full festival while protecting downtown trade. Specific economic reasoning, controlled sentences and a transport proposal linked to merchant sponsorship make its recommendation persuasive and practical.

• If the most talented exhibitors stopped applying, the festival would lose precisely what draws visitors in the first place. — Content/Coherence: This completes a clear chain of reasoning: shorter selling time could discourage travelling artists, which could weaken the festival's appeal. The conditional wording presents a possible consequence, and the preceding glassblower example gives it concrete support.
• Its open field could accommodate a children's art tent and a shaded area for older visitors, — Vocabulary: “Accommodate” precisely connects the park's space to useful facilities. Naming an art tent and shaded seating area develops the general space argument into benefits for families and older visitors.
• While I'd miss the bustle of the main street, I believe the society should choose Option A — Readability: The opening uses a controlled concessive clause to acknowledge downtown's appeal while establishing a clear preference. This balanced sentence prepares the reader for an argument that considers competing priorities.
• funded by a modest sponsorship from local merchants who would no longer lose a weekend of trade, — Task Fulfillment: The proposed funding connects the shuttle solution to the merchants who benefit from relocation. This makes the recommendation more developed than simply requesting transport: it explains how the society could address access while preserving the full festival.