In face of COVID-19 pandemic, Indian River Festival cancels entire 2020 season

The Indian River Festival, a summer music concert series on P.E.I., will not go ahead in 2020.

The festival's executive director Kate Gracey-Stewart told CBC Radio: Island Morning that given the current public health restrictions on gatherings, and the uncertainty of when those might end, the board of directors decided the best plan was to simply cancel.

"It was pretty heartbreaking. It was a very emotional meeting. There were some tears shed," said Gracey-Stewart.

"The health and safety of our community was certainly our number one priority. We just felt for everyone's benefit we needed to make a very clear and concise decision."

This was to be the festival's 25th anniversary.

The festival lineup was going to include large ensembles and artists from across Canada and around the world, requiring a lot of lead time to plan. Given the current uncertainty, it did not make sense to go ahead, said Gracey-Stewart.

Some events could still go ahead

Cancelling the festival will cost in terms of ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, but also save most of the festival's costs such as staffing and booking acts. Trying to run a season in 2020 could have threatened the long-term stability of the organization, a written news release from the organization said.

If the situation changes, said Gracey-Stewart, it is possible some events could still go ahead at the historic St. Mary's church that is the venue for the festival.

"Our hope is that as soon as it's safe to do so we can do more programming at historic St. Mary's," she said.

"If we find out in two months that we can use that space or gather as any kind of a group we'll absolutely be doing whatever program we can that makes sense at the time."

But for now, she said, the festival is focused on preparing for the 2021 season.

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