The City of Toronto and event organizers are working to ramp up safety ahead of summer festival season, as the Do West Fest returns this weekend with a boost in security measures.
Following the tragic Lapu Lapu festival incident in April, that left 11 people dead and multiple injured after an SUV drove through a large crowd in Vancouver, Toronto is hoping to increase safety at street festivals this summer by providing more in grants.
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During the city’s Festival and Event Safety Summit last month, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced a $2.1-million increase to the Special Events Stabilization Initiative (SESI) as it aims to improve festival safety.
“We will again put in the $2 million to help you run the festivals and make sure that you have the right safety measures to protect and to make sure that you have a good festival,” she told reporters during a press conference.
SESI was launched last year as a one-time funding program that local events organizers hit by rising costs can apply to for covering costs especially related to the health and safety of attendees in the festival. The grants currently cover 50 per cent of eligible festival expenses, such as crowd control, emergency planning and protective infrastructure.
The added funds will increase the grant amount to up to $750,000 that eligible festivals can apply to make up for those expenses starting June 16.
“The vehicle attack at Vancouver’s Lapu-Lapu Festival on April 26 was a tragic incident and the City expresses its deepest sympathies to those affected. Public safety is always our top priority,” a city spokesperson told Now Toronto on Wednesday.
“On Monday, May 26, the City hosted the Festival and Event Safety Summit, bringing together festival organizers, partners and stakeholders to discuss safety concerns, share insights from recent surveys and meetings and announce enhanced safety measures.”
This weekend, the annual Do West Fest is taking over Dundas St. and marks “the official start to summer.” Happening from June 6-8, the event celebrates the best of Toronto’s Little Portugal neighbourhood covering 16 downtown blocks on Dundas St. W. between Ossington and Lansdowne with music, shops, and good food.
The festival’s Managing Director Anah Shabbar tells Now Toronto that while the city grant is helpful to ramp up safety, SESI still feels like a “gamble” to organizers.
According to her, the grant works by reimbursing organizers on their expenses, which means that they have to pay those out of pocket before accessing the initiative money.
“We understand that the city is definitely trying to put things in place, and just reacting as fast as they can to this new climate around festival safety. But hopefully, one day, the city will own hostile vehicle mitigation units that they can lend out to festivals and take more of a shared responsibility versus having the upfront costs being put on festival organizers,” she said.
Shabbar says that while street festivals like Do West Fest might seem large in scale, they operate with limited funds, and their largest costs involve safety measures.
“It’s a really large cost. It’s actually, you know, we do have increased costs because of rising costs of police, security, [and] other safety measures. But the biggest increase in costs is this hostile vehicle mitigation,” she said.
“The city does provide us with some funding every year, but there [are] fees we also need to pay the city every year. So, street closure permit, noise permit, EMS costs, police. So, even though we do get a grant from them every year, —which we’re very grateful for—there are a lot of fees we need to pay out to the city.”
DO WEST FESTING RAMPING UP SAFETY
But regardless of costs, the organizer says the festival is committed to adding extra safety measures this year to offer attendees peace of mind after the Vancouver attack.
“We have some new things in place. So, we’re requiring more permits for cars to enter [and] the street closures in general. So, normally, we have permits for some vendors, but now we’re having them for more vendors and all BIA members as well, just to make sure any vehicles that do come in within the road closure are permitted,” Shabbar said.
Last year, the festival had a safety scare after the St. Anne’s Anglican Church on Gladstone Ave. near Dundas St. W. burned down on the morning of the festival.
Shabbar says that while the situation was unforeseeable and shocking, the festival staff was able to come together and work around the incident with the help of Toronto Fire Services.
“It was pretty shocking, to be honest, it was on the Saturday morning of the festival, and we found out pretty early about it through one of our production assistants living close by and seeing what was happening, and he let us know we came down as fast as possible, and we worked with the fire department, who was actually amazing,” she said.
Although the organizer says events like this can be quite unpredictable, she is confident that the community can work together to ensure safety.
“This is not only a safe festival, but it’s a community festival,” she said. “Everybody who comes out wants to make sure everyone has a good time. Beyond our staff, the businesses and the vendors, we draw a community that has each other’s backs.”
As one of the most beloved festivals in the summer, the Do West Fest offers tons of authentic Portuguese eats and entertainment.
Some of this year’s highlights include the city’s newest Portuguese restaurant Taberna Lx, Nova Era Bakery, a neighbourhood favourite for pastries and snacks, and delicious barbeque at Bairrada Churrasqueira Grill. Additionally, on Saturday, the fun will hit the LiUNA Community Stage with a traditional Portuguese guitarra presentation by musician and instrument maker Nuno Cristi.
