Afrofest, one of Toronto's longest-running celebrations of African music and culture, is facing a set of new hurdles from the city ahead of this summer's edition, CBC News reported. The most striking change for festivalgoers is that the event will start charging admission, a first in its history.
For the organizers, the decision is not about profit but about safety. They say that to increase security and cover the added costs, they now have to charge people to attend, something they have never done before in all the years the festival has run.
The festival also looked at moving but found no alternative. According to the report, organizer Peter Toh could not find a new location after the city warned him in the fall about the size of the crowds, so the plan is to remain at Woodbine Park for this year, where the event has run for 37 years.
The tighter conditions follow a troubled edition last year. CBC reported that someone set off fireworks in the crowd, two officers were assaulted, and a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death across the street from the event, incidents that put the gathering under heightened scrutiny.
The city, for its part, frames the issue around scale rather than that violence. A city spokesperson said the event has outgrown the space and now expects about 45,000 people to show up each day, and the festival has been told to meet a list of new conditions, including a cap of 17,000 people per day, more paid duty officers, a 25,000 dollar security deposit, fencing off the area and controlling who comes in, all while officials stress they are committed to a safe and sustainable event.
There has also been a recent show of support from city hall. After organizers posted about the festival's permit struggles on social media this week, the mayor's office reached out, saying it wants to help resolve the situation.
Despite the obstacles, the festival is still set to go ahead this summer. Afrofest is expected to run from August 14th to the 16th at Woodbine Park, with organizers working to meet the new requirements while keeping the long-standing event alive.