Toronto 
Credit: Toronto Pride
City of Toronto Mayor John Tory has announced that the city is cancelling all city-led events and festivals through June 30 in response to the recent provincial emergency order to prohibit organized public events and social gatherings of more than five people.
All City-led major mass participation events, festivals, conferences and cultural programs, and all City permits for major mass participation events organized by external groups at civic centres and squares, parks, public spaces (including road closures), City-operated museums and cultural centres through June 30 will be cancelled.
The decision to cancel City-led events and third-party permits has been made in consultation with Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, the Emergency Operations Centre, Toronto Police Service, Mayor John Tory’s office and major event organizers, and supports the directive that physical distancing is critical to stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The end date for the cancellation period will be reviewed every two weeks following the initial announcement and may be extended beyond June 30 in consultation with Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health and in consideration of the provincial prohibition of organized public events and social gatherings.
The major events impacted by today’s announcement are Doors Open Toronto, Indigenous Arts Festival, Pride Toronto, and NXNE Music and Gaming festival.
Mayor also said that though the pride month will go ahead, the annual Pride parade will be cancelled due to COVID-19.
Through a statement on the website Pride Toronto said, “In alignment with the City of Toronto’s statement, Pride Toronto will no longer host the Festival Weekend on June 26-28th, 2020. Our team is working hard to deliver Pride celebrations in new, creative, and unique ways that ensure safety and physical distancing. The decision by public health authorities to cancel permits through the month of June is a necessary one. Any future programming will be in alignment with the recommendations of the public health authorities and the communities we serve.”
NXNE is postponed to August 11-16, 2020 from June 12- 21, 2020.
