Toronto’s annual Tamil Fest has been cancelled this year, with organizers citing increased security costs from Toronto Police Services and a lack of funding from the city as contributing factors.
The annual summer festival, which is organized by the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), takes place for two days in Scarborough, bringing in more than 250,000 people a year, making it one of the largest Tamil festivals in the world.
This year, it was originally supposed to be held on Aug. 23 and 24, but a notice posted to the festivals’ website earlier this week says it’s been cancelled.
President of CTC, Kumar Ratnam, tells Now Toronto that the organization was looking forward to hosting the event once again, but an increased security cost from Toronto Police Services put a strain on their budget.
“That impacted about one third of our operational cost of the festival, and that became not feasible and sustainable for us to manage,” Ratnam said.
Ratnam says the cost came at nearly $100,000.
“It’s not a recoverable cost… and without showing the proof that we are paying for the security, we wouldn’t get the permit to run the festival,” he said.
The festival’s cancellation comes days after Taste of The Danforth was cancelled for a second year in a row for unknown reasons.
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Ratnam said a lack of funding from the City of Toronto also contributed to the cancellation of Tamil Fest. He added the festival applied for the city’s Special Events Stabilization Initiative, a fund meant to provide local festivals with financial relief, but was unsuccessful.
Despite most of the funding coming from community partners, supporters, and sponsors, Ratnam says the festival could not go on without additional help from the city.
“The city also stopped the regular funding that they used to give us before as well. I think the main reason to cancel was the financial inability to support and manage as a community,” he said.
Ratman says the festival’s absence this year is already being felt within Toronto’s Tamil community, and comes as a major loss.
“This is the event that everybody comes together to celebrate,” he said. “It’s not just Tamils who attend, it’s the entire population of Scarborough… everybody comes together to learn about the culture, get the best food, and watch the entertainment.”
And although it is not returning this year, Ratman says he is still hopeful the city can experience it next year, and has already requested a meeting with Mayor Olivia Chow to discuss the possibilities.
“There’s a lot of sadness, a lot of disappointment… and we are determined to bring it back,” he said.
