Anyone hoping to see scenes of a Caribbean carnival in downtown Montreal this summer may be disappointed.
According to organizers of the city’s annual Carifiesta parade, the City of Montreal has refused to issue a permit, which they say comes as a shock since, according to them, they filed their permit application well before the deadline earlier this year.
“If there was something missing, it would’ve been nice to know,” said Everiste Blaize, president of the Caribbean Cultural Festivities Association (CCFA), which organizes the event. “Nobody contacted us to say this was missing or that was missing. It was simply a letter I received after our application. That’s it.”
Blaize says without the permit, they won’t get more than $30,000 in funding, about 80 per cent of the operating cost.
“For example, the no parking signs is usually about $15,000, which is half our budget,” he said, adding that much of the rest pays for security.
In a statement to Global News, the City of Montreal says last year it changed its support programs for festivals and cultural events and that the Carifiesta promoter was invited to submit a project under the Programme de soutien aux festivals et événements culturels (PSFEC) – Part III.
“The city says the promoter was notified of these changes and contacted him several times to support him in submitting his project,” the statement reads. “The promoter did not respond to the city’s support offer.
“The City of Montreal grants funding to organizations likely to be able to deploy an event in a viable manner according to realistic budget projections and a history of good governance. The Carifiesta project, as presented, was not deemed viable in 2023, not to mention that the issues experienced in 2022 were not addressed by the promoter.”
The statement goes on to say that 90 eligible projects under the PSFEC in 2023 will get funding, including FestiThéâtreCréole / FestiTeyatKreyol, Festival Haiti en Folie, Mizik Kreyol International Festival of Montreal and A Taste of the Caribbean Festival.
Those who usually participate in the parade say they’re sad they may not get to participate this year and that to lose the parade, a staple in the city, would be a huge blow.
“I thought about what does this mean, how do we move forward from there?” said Melika Forde, president of the West-Can Folk Performing Company. “What can we as a community do?”
Brian Smith, who has always supported the parade, agrees.
“It is very, very important to know exactly what took place and what can be remedied for that,” he said.
Blaize said he is hoping to hear from city authorities about why the Carifiesta project was rejected.