The annual Little Jamaica Festival in Toronto has been cancelled just days before it was set to begin.
The Little Jamaica Business Improvement Area (BIA), which puts on the festival, announced on Thursday that the event, which was set to start on Saturday, had been cancelled due to “funding challenges” and not receiving a street event permit.
The City of Toronto said the street event permit was not issued because organizers did not meet the application requirements that included a detailed site plan, traffic management plans and security plans by the deadline.
The festival received $15,000 in funding through the City’s Cultural Festivals Funding Program, and Lalor says it received an additional $25,000 from a federal heritage grant, but it wasn’t enough.
“Just for paid police, it’s $20,000 we paid last year,” said Diana Lalor, treasurer of the Little Jamaica BIA.
“[The City] have been working with us, but we have challenges because of funding to get all the paperwork in.”
In a statement, they added staff worked with the organizers to explore alternative options, including moving the event to different locations or dates, but these were not pursued by the event organizers.
It’s another blow to a community that has been struggling to thrive for over a decade. Community members say the lasting effects of the pandemic, combined with ongoing construction on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, have left a devastating impact.
“We are on life support here in Little Jamaica. We are asking for help. We’re not asking for handouts,” said Lalor.
The festival joins a troubling list of Toronto festivals forced to pull the plug in recent years. Earlier this week, organizers of Toronto’s Oktoberfest announced they would be pausing this year’s event after failing to receive provincial funding, while organizers of the Taste of the Danforth cancelled their festival for a second year in a row this summer, also due to a lack of funding.
The BIA, which represents over 200 businesses and property owners along Eglinton Avenue West between Marlee Avenue and Dufferin Street, tells CityNews that the revenue generated from last year’s festival allowed businesses to pay their rent for up to a year.