Another Toronto food festival cancelled at the last minute
· Toronto Sun
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A popular food festival in Toronto has been yanked from this weekend’s schedule.
Foodville Fest, which celebrates African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latin culture and music scene, was set to take over Lamport Stadium on Saturday.
However, organizers took to Instagram to announce its abrupt cancellation.
“We secured the venue. Permits were approved on schedule. Our headline deposit went out. The lineup was built and our vendors were confirmed,” according to the statement posted on Thursday .
“What we couldn’t close was the gap between the festival we were building and what it takes to deliver it properly.”
They admitted: “We overextended. We own our part in that.”
Organizers confirmed that everyone who purchased a ticket for the event will be reimbursed, while those who were scheduled to perform or had signed on to be a vendor have “already heard from us directly.”
What other events were cancelled?
The one-day festival, which supports more than 110 Black-owned businesses, comes after Taste of Little Jamaica and AFROFEST were also cancelled this summer.
The inaugural Taste of Little Jamaica, which was set for July 18, was cancelled after organizers were “ unable to secure all of the approvals required to proceed this year ,” despite working closely with the City of Toronto.
The festival hopes to make its debut next year.
City of Toronto to blame?
Meanwhile, AFROFEST, which was scheduled to celebrate its 38th year, was pulled late last month, with organizers blaming the City for a slow response time on new capacity restrictions at its venue, Woodbine Park.
“Our community fought hard to keep AFROFEST alive this year,” organizers noted, in part, in an Instagram post sharing their disappointment.
“Music Africa explored alternative venues with City staff, but relocating AFROFEST responsibly requires more time than the current timeline allows,” they wrote. “Proceeding under these conditions would compromise the safety of patrons, volunteers, artists, vendors, and staff — and we will never put our community at risk.”
They added: “We will use this year to secure a larger venue, strengthen our operational plans, and build the infrastructure needed for a festival of AFROFEST’s scale. AFROFEST will return in 2027 stronger, safer, and ready to welcome everyone back.”
Foodville organizers also vowed it will be back.
“Three years. Over 15,000 people… That doesn’t disappear because a date did,” they wrote.
“We’re taking the year to rebuild,” they added. “Foodville returns in 2027.”