Some of Southern Ontario’s biggest summer events have either already been cancelled due to social distancing orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic, or are awaiting answers from the three levels of governments before going forward.
“Well, it’s really hard to make decisions,” Supercrawl founder Tim Potocic told Global News.
The organizer of the iconic James Street festival, which draws up to 200,000 over three days in September, is feeling the pressure and figures he’s got a month before he needs to either go forward or cancel the event.
“We’re talking to the provincial government and federal government ministers weekly, really, and our industry as well,” Potocic said.
“We’re waiting to the 1st of June. Basically, we have another board meeting with the board of directors that week and we’re waiting to see what transpires with the province.”
While Supercrawl still has a chance in September, a number of other high-traffic Hamilton and area events have already been cancelled, including Pride Hamilton, Port Colborne’s Canal Days and Ottawa Street’s Sew Hungry.
“It’s clear now that the impact of this pandemic will last months, not weeks. With that in mind, we’ve made the tough decision to cancel our Pride in the Park event scheduled for June 20 in Gage Park,” organizers of the pride event said in a statement released in late March.
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Events that have opted to change dates include Niagara Falls Comic Con, which typically runs at the Convention Centre in June, is now set to run in September.
President Chris Dabrowski, who also runs the Hamilton Comic Con, says he’s hoping the two events will run in September and October, respectively. However, that is dependant on what safe distancing orders are put in place by the provincial government at that time.
“We originally moved our Niagara Falls event date from June to September, with the positive thought process that public gatherings may be allowed by that time,” Dabrowski said.
“Of course, no one has a crystal ball, and we continue to monitor government mandates day by day.”
Still up in the air is the fate of a number of other events like the Stratford Festival which put its entire theatre season “on hold,” the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake which cancelled shows to June 30, and Burlington’s Ribfest whose organizers says they are “hoping for the best.”
Potocic is also the frontman for Hamilton’s Because Beer festival and he says that event will definitely have an altered date, perhaps in the summer.
“We will execute something but we need to determine the time and place. We have several parks and venues on hold.”
For Supercrawl, Potocic is holding out hope the event will be one of the ones given the go-ahead soon due to the fact it’s outdoors.
“What we’ve heard on the side of outdoor events is that it’s more likely that outdoor events will be allowed because you have the ability to social distance yourself as opposed to sitting in an arena,” said Potocic
“So, you know, fingers crossed, that’s going to weigh well to our benefit and we’re going to be able to do things.”
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.