Even as the original source of the virus, Wuhan China, emerges from a COVID-19 lockdown, and Austria and Denmark begin to ease their restrictions, in Canada, the opposite still holds.
Major events in cities across the country have been cancelled for the next couple of months. Now Montreal -which bills itself as a city of festivals, has announced more event closings in addition to those already cancelled such as the International Jazz Fest in June.
In a tweet, Mayor Valerie Plante said all public events will be shut down until July 2.
This includes all sports events, festivals, and cultural events.
Caught up in the cancellations are Quebec’s formerly religious but now often politicized celebration of its cultural identity on St Jean Baptiste day now known as the Fete National (national celebration) on June 24, which brings out huge mostly Francophone crowds to hear the many public entertainments. It also means there will be no celebration of Canada’s founding on Canada Day on July 1.
Also gone are Les FrancoFolies, (“Les Francos’) another hugely popular mostly free event featuring francophone musicians from around the world performing on open air stages downtown similar to the now cancelled international jazz fest, while the popular cycling event “Tour de l’Ile” (around the island) was also cancelled. Although the ‘Completement Cirque’ circus festival was set to start on July 2, it too has been cancelled as organisers said that the hundreds of hours of rehearsals needed simply weren’t possible, adding that the event couldn’t simply be postponed due to the same problem of rearranging schedules for performers and space. The same situation has caused the cancellation of the very popular Fringe Festival as well.
The hugely popular Just for Laughs festival is hoped to postponed rather than cancelled as will be the Montreal Grand Prix which generates millions of dollars in economic boost to the city in spending from visitors and millions more in tax revenues. Due to the pandemic so far eight other races have been cancelled or postponed; The Australian Grand Prix (cancelled), the Bahrain Grand Prix (postponed), the Vietnam Grand Prix (postponed), the Chinese Grand Prix (postponed), the Dutch Grand Prix (postponed), the Spanish Grand Prix (postponed), the Monaco Grand Prix (cancelled) and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix (postponed).
Montreal is working with race organisers with a view to potentially holding the race later this year in the fall.
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