Regina Folk Festival Shuts Down After More Than 50 Years
As festivals across the country sound the alarm about financial threats, the Saskatchewan festival is winding down operations, stating that "economic challenges have become insurmountable."
Regina Folk Festival Says Goodbye
After more than 50 years, Saskatchewan's Regina Folk Festival is saying goodbye.
The festival's board of directors released a statement announcing the cancellation of a planned 53rd edition for this summer. The board is instead winding down the festival's operations, explaining that "economic challenges have become insurmountable."
The longstanding festival had cancelled its 2024 edition in order to take a regrouping year. Last fall, the festival announced a 2025 edition would go ahead. In the months since, however, the board says it has become clear that it's not financially possible to hold another event.
"Ongoing financial pressures from the pandemic, including stagnant or reduced funding, rising costs, and declining ticket sales, have created obstacles we can no longer overcome," says the statement.
The festival is the latest Canadian live arts event to shutter, as the industry faces serious challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Montreal's Just For Laughs comedy festival filed for creditor protection last year, while the Vancouver Folk Festival announced it was shutting down in 2023, before the community — and an injection of funding — saved it.
This year, both the Vancouver Jazz Festival and Toronto's Beaches Jazz Fest have reached out for financial support, describing a live arts landscape under pressure.
The pressures come from several sources: lost revenues during lockdowns, skyrocketing inflation, reduced brand sponsorship, and a concert-going public that isn't always returning as hoped, especially to smaller events.
The Canada Live Music Association's Hear and Now report, which measures the value of Canada's live music industry, highlighted that globally, live music didn't live up to projected performances in 2024.
"Cancelled tours and festivals due to lower ticket sales, rising costs, and environmental impacts has led to overall industry decline," the authors write.” "High prices for top acts are exhausting fan budgets leaving less for mid-range artists."
"The live music sector in Canada has suffered greatly over the last five years and we are not immune," the Regina Folk Festival (RFF) board states. "According to Festivals and Major Events Canada, it now costs 30% to 40% more than it did in 2019 to organize a comparable event."
Like many folk festivals, the RFF is a non-profit. The festival has programmed some of Canada's best-loved and most acclaimed artists, like Joel Plaskett, Alan Doyle and The Halluci Nation.
Emerging artists often get their first gigs at local folk festivals, and the folk festival circuit is a crucial space for like-minded artists to prioritize community and share best practices. But their grassroots nature also means those festivals aren't necessarily able to withstand financial shocks.
"For 55 years, the Regina Folk Festival has been more than just a celebration of live music; it’s been a highly-anticipated weekend of community building where lasting memories were made," the Board message concludes. "We look forward to discovering all the beautiful new events that will sprout in its absence. We encourage everyone to support the arts however they can."
Find the full statement here.
