Major events on P.E.I. being cancelled over Fiona fears
Bye-bye Beer Festival, Harvest Home Festival, and Street Feast
As forecasts for the coming week grow more ominous, organizers have begun pulling the plug on some major Prince Edward Island events.
For example, Fiona's approach led Discover Charlottetown to postpone its Street Feast block party that was scheduled for Friday and Saturday. It will now be held Oct. 7 and 8.
"We've been getting a lot of calls from festival and event organizers for the last few days ... trying to work through really what this weekend is going to mean," said Corryn Clemence, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I.
"So there's a lot of scrambling, I think, taking place — and some that are hopeful that they can maybe adapt their existing programming to still deliver on some of those events. But you know, it's something that we're all pretty concerned about and watching closely."
Officials with the 2022 Harvest Home Festival have also called off their Friday and Saturday shows at the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival grounds.
Organizers of the P.E.I. Beer Festival said it was being postponed until Feb. 10 and 11, 2023. Tickets for this weekend will be honoured at that time.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games in several locations were cancelled, including Charlottetown Islanders games on Sept. 23 and 24. The Saturday night game would have been the team's home opener; the organization tweeted: "Stay tuned for make up dates and ticket information."
Some events not cancelled
As for the Confederation Centre of the Arts, it posted on social media that it is monitoring Hurricane Fiona, but not calling off performances yet: "A decision about Saturday programming, including dance umbrella classes and performances of Tell Tale Harbour, will be made on the day."
Organizers of the new P.E.I. Fibre Festival at first said it was going ahead at the Delta Hotel in Charlottetown, from Friday through Sunday, because many participants were already on the Island and staying at the hotel.
But on Thursday, they reversed that decision, saying all tickets would be refunded within the next 14 days.