P.E.I. festivals affected by COVID-19 will get financial help, says premier

P.E.I. Premier Dennnis King says financial help will be made available to festivals and events this summer struggling with COVID-19 restrictions such as gathering limits and physical distancing requirements.

Organizers for such festivals have been grappling with making decisions this spring about whether to open, and how to do so safely. At her briefing on Tuesday, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said no large-scale mass gatherings would be permitted this summer.

Emma MacKenzie, the president of Festivals and Events P.E.I., said event organizers have many questions.

"What are some of the restrictions allowed around who is allowed to come to festivals and events, such as do they need to be vaccinated?" she said. "Do they need proof of negative tests and things such as that?"

While the Festival of Small Halls announced it is cancelling for a second straight year, the Charlottetown Festival at the Confederation Centre said Thursday it will be going ahead with smaller, creative shows on its mainstage this summer.

King and Morrison answered questions Thursday at an event for festival organizers.

"When we think about July, August, September, we are not thinking about events of 10,000, 15,000 people," she said. "But yes, we are thinking about cohorts ... Instead of cohorts of 50, likely looking at cohorts that are maybe 200 people and then multiples."

Morrison said crowds of 1,000 or so may be workable if conditions are right, as is already the case at large indoor arenas, such as the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown and Credit Union Place in Summerside.

"The whole goal here would be to try to have as many of these festivals and events across the communities of P.E.I., to do it as safely as possible," King said. "If they need some government assistance, we're going to step up."

He said the province will deal individually with festivals and events, as they come to government for help.

"If the decision to have a festival and event across P.E.I. is hinging upon whether they need a little extra money to do this and to do it safely, then we're going to have our programs to be adaptable so that can happen."

Only a handful of P.E.I.'s more than 200 events went ahead in 2020.

The long-standing Crapaud Exhibition was one of those that cancelled. This year, organizers want to go ahead but say they're worried about rising insurance costs, reduced ticket sales and low attendance.

"It's going to take some imagination to see what we can pull off this summer," said Paula Sark, president of the Crapaud Exhibition, and the P.E.I. Truck & Tractor Pull.

As vaccines roll out across Canada, King and Morrison said different rules may be developed for visitors who can prove they've had the shot. They promised details on that, and other measures, in the coming weeks.

King said he hopes to see two million visitors to P.E.I. in 2023, when the province celebrates 150 years since Confederation.

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