Cancellation of Mass Events
The listing period for this Classified has passed.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in response to the provincial public health order to prohibit gatherings with more than 15 people, until the end of August, all City of Calgary supported events set to take place through August 31, 2020 are cancelled. In addition, we are cancelling permits for third party events that were set to be held on City land through August 31 which means those events cannot proceed.
The City will continue to reevaluate this decision and the August 31 date could be extended in consultation with the Province’s direction and Alberta’s’ ability to flatten the curve. If the event cancellation date is to be extended past August 31, The City will notify event organizers.
At this time, we are not requesting that organizers cancel events scheduled for the fall. The City is working with these event organizers on the assumption that they will go ahead. However, it is advised that we all make contingency plans in the event we do need to extend the cancellation date.
A total of 166 festivals and events set to take place on City land through to August 31 have been impacted.
The City is working with each event organizer who has booked on City land to accommodate their plans for postponement or cancellation. We are committed to finding opportunities to support our event and festival community as this situation evolves. Event organizers who are considering postponing their event to later in the year instead of cancelling all together are encouraged to get in contact with their City event liaison. We will work with you to determine venue and resource availability, and requests will be assessed on an event by event basis.
Calgary is a vibrant city renowned for our world-class festivals and events. In 2019, The City supported 287 festivals and events that partnered with more than 4,100 businesses to host 1.6 million attendees over 567 event days. Festivals and events are estimated to contribute more than $600 million to the local economy. We appreciate all you do to make this happen.
We realize this decision is disappointing for all Calgarians. However, public safety and therefore physical distancing must be our top priority during this pandemic.
When Calgarians can gather once again, we’ll work with event organizers to bring amazing events back to Calgary’s streets, parks and venues.
If you have any questions as all, please get in touch with your City event liaison. We are here for you and together we’ll get through this unprecedented and challenging time.