Volume 45 No. 2
March 22, 2016
Afrofest loses a day By Anna Killen
WARD 32 councillor Mary Margaret McMahon says she will host a meeting with affected parties on March 23 to discuss the decision to cut Afrofest’s festival days in half. The organizers of Afrofest began amping up the pressure on city officials following word that the city intends to reduce the popular African music festival from two days to one. The city decided this year to only issue the Woodbine Park festival a one-day permit, citing noise and time violations in previous years. Afrofest organizers contest the violations and say they are being unfairly targeted and discriminated against. A petition has been launched and supporters have been pressuring city officials to change course. When the news broke early last week, McMahon said the city would not be changing its mind, but in a statement on March 16, following considerable pressure from Afrofest supporters, she said she was organizing a meeting for March 23.
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“It has a significant impact on … the integrity of the festival” – Afrofest organizer Peter Toh
“I have coordinated a meeting on Wednesday March 23 with members of the Toronto Music Advisory Council, staff from the Mayor’s office, Economic Development and Municipal Licensing and Standards, as well as the organizers of Afrofest to find a resolution to this issue,” reads the statement posted to her website March 16. “I want to ensure that music continues to animate our
parks and that all festivals abide by their permits.” Afrofest has taken place in Woodbine Park annually since 2012, when it moved to the neighbourhood after outgrowing Queens Park where it had operated since 1989. With crowds of up to 60,000 people a day, it’s billed as the largest annual African music festival in North America. Limiting the festival to one day “will almost certainly mean the end of Afrofest as a free community event,” reads a petition launched March 5, which had more than 4,000 signatures and over 1,500 comments at press time. The petition, and a release from Afrofest sent March 14, encourages supporters to write and call Ward 32 councillor Mary Margaret McMahon, as well as Mayor John Tory and other city councillors to push the city to reverse the decision. “The city will listen to us when our voice is loud,” reads the petition. The city’s reasoning for limiting the festival to a one-day event is because “permissible sound levels and permitted time frames were exceeded in previous festivals,” reads the Afrofest release. “Afrofest organizers maintain that these allegations are inaccurate.” Peter Toh, president of Music Africa, the organizers of Afrofest, said the move to limit the festival will cause significant financial and organizational hardship for the festival, noting that vendor revenue will be cut in half, that they will not be able to bring in as many international artists, and that contracts and funding will be impacted. He said the festival will remain free and that organizers will work to put on a one-day festival if they are forced to, but “it’s going to be tough.” “It has a significant impact on the festival financially, and also on the integrity of the festival within the African community,” said Toh. Continued on Page 3
PHOTO: PHIL LAMEIRA
Sing it out loud, spring is here This red-winged blackbird was busy calling out to its friends at Woodbine Park on March 20. Blackbirds, such as grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, and red-winged blackbirds are usually the first birds to arrive en masse in spring in Toronto. Other birds that be can expected to be seen in larger numbers in the weeks to come are American robins and blue jays.