Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan is indefinitely postponing its 2020 season, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The annual festival has been held in Saskatoon for over 30 years.
Organizers said the safety of staff, patrons, volunteers and artists is a top priority, so cancelling the festival was necessary.
Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan artistic producer Will Brooks was in communication with other Saskatchewan festivals and Canadian art organizations before making the tough decision to postpone the upcoming season.
“For us, we don’t really have the ability to wait a number of months to see what the restrictions might be in the summer,” Brooks said last week to Global News.
Brooks expects a huge financial loss for the organization this year.
“Cancelling comes along with about a 70 per cent loss of revenue for the year,” Brooks said.
“Some of the other scenarios we looked at like trying to run a small festival later in the year or hold off our decision as long as possible… those ones came with even worse financial ramifications.”
A new year-round, permanent site for Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan along the South Saskatchewan River is still on schedule. Brooks said he looks forward to the new site being a community gathering space, whenever that is safe and possible.
Comments