Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach festival cancelled due to coronavirus

Bard on the Beach has cancelled its 2020 season due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Artistic director Christopher Gaze said organizers wanted to keep the annual open-air Shakespeare festival going, but there were too many concerns about safety.

1:58 Local artists transform boarded up storefronts in Gastown

“It has now become clear that if we stage a festival this summer, we cannot ensure that standard of safety and well-being for all, and so we’ve made the deeply painful decision to cancel our 31st season.”

The festival was scheduled to run from June 10 to September 26.

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About 240 people will be laid off.

More than 100,000 people a year gather at Vanier Park on the city’s west side for Bard on the Beach.

The 2020 season was slated to feature productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry V.

Patrons who had bought tickets are eligible for 2021 ticket credits, charitable tax-receipted donations, and full refunds.