Thunder Bay – LIVING – Thunder Bay will have to wait another year for the Folklore Festival.
In a statement issued today, “As key Chairs of the Folklore Festival Volunteer Organizing Committee watched COVID progress in our community and province following the cancellation of Folklore Festival 2020, we realized quite early that no event the size of Folklore Festival, run annually by the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association and the Folklore Festival Organizing Committee, could run and certainly should not be running in 2021 for the safety of all Folklore Festival visitors, performers, vendors, volunteers, participants, and most importantly for the potential health risks such a large event may bring to our communities based on the advice provided by the Federal, Provincial, and Local governments and Health Departments regarding the COVID-19 Outbreak in Canada.
“With Social Distancing Rules, Social Gathering Limits, the advice not to travel, and all the Health advisories and regulations implemented by our Province and our City including Lockdowns and Stay-at-Home orders in effect in order to protect people during these challenging COVID times, and the growing number of COVID cases, unfortunately planning and running an “in person” Folklore Festival is not possible in 2021.
“Folklore, had it been able to run, would have taken place on the May 1-2 Weekend and that is when our VIRTUAL Folklore Festival 2021 will run on our website www.folklorefestival.ca with a shorter version on Facebook, and we will continue to run it for several months for your enjoyment.
We can all come together VIRTUALLY and celebrate the rich diversity of Canada and take visitors on a “Trip Around the World” to experience the magnificent sights, sounds and flavours woven into the fabric of our country by our various ethnocultural and Aboriginal communities. Canada’s wealth lies in our rich cultural diversity.
The traditions, the dances, the songs, the foods have made the Canadian mosaic a treasure, which will long endure. The Thunder Bay Multicultural Association invites everyone to be part of this 2021 VIRTUAL Canadian multicultural celebration and the wonder that is Folklore Festival, with hopes of returning next year with an “in-person” Folklore Festival 2022.
