A new food festival meant to give businesses in Toronto's Little Jamaica neighbourhood a boost has been cancelled, in what organizers and business owners called a disappointing setback, according to CBC.
Organizers say the Taste of Little Jamaica, which had been planned for July 18th along Eglinton West, is now cancelled after they were unable to meet the city's permit requirements.
The news landed hard on a stretch of businesses that have struggled through years of construction on the Eglinton LRT, and had been counting on the festival to help bring customers back to the neighbourhood.
It follows a similar disappointment. The Little Jamaica Festival, organized by the local business improvement area, was cancelled last summer and did not return this year.
According to the city, officials tried to help with things like funding and the permit, and even proposed a smaller, scaled-down version of the event, but said it was the organizers who chose not to move forward. Organizers said the timing was tight, especially with the city stretched by the FIFA World Cup.
A city spokesperson encouraged people to attend other events in the area this summer, and said officials plan to meet with the organizers in the fall to discuss how the festival could happen next year.