Mariposa’s big celebration will have to wait.
Organizers have called off the 2020 Mariposa Folk Festival, which was set to take place July 3 to 5 at Tudhope Park.
“Mariposa needed to do its part to limit the spread of the coronavirus,” said Pam Carter, chair of the festival and president of the Mariposa Folk Foundation.
With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic nowhere in sight, “it just became very evident to us that mass gatherings and events will probably be the last things to come back once they lift restrictions,” she said.
More than 30,000 people and at least 54 acts were expected to be on hand for the 60th-anniversary celebration, including headliner Mavis Staples and Mariposa favourite Serena Ryder.
Organizers have been reaching out to the artists’ agents as well as others who have a stake in the festival.
“Everyone’s quite understanding, but they’re disappointed, of course,” Carter said. “This year was one of the strongest lineups we’ve put together in a long time.”
The festival hadn’t even announced the entire roster of performers.
Carter said all of the booked acts are being offered a spot at the 2021 festival, and while planning for next year’s event will begin in earnest, organizers are being realistic about whether it will even happen.
“The big challenge for all presenters is we don’t know if COVID will present again, what it will look like next year,” Carter said. “Possibly — and I hope not — we could be facing the same thing next year, but we will have our 60th anniversary eventually.”
In the meantime, Mariposa will turn its attention to strengthening its winter concert series.
“Hopefully, we’ll have more and bigger concerts to give back to our fans,” she said.
Every year, Mariposa releases an album featuring music from that year’s lineup of artists. Organizers are planning to go ahead with a 2020 release by the end of summer.
Ticket sales for the 2020 festival had been “robust,” Carter said. Those who have purchased tickets will have a few options. They can get a full refund, use the tickets in 2021 or donate the cost of the ticket to the festival.
Carter understands the disappointment that will be caused by the cancellation, as Mariposa is an annual “time of reunion and greeting friends we haven’t seen in a long time,” but she promises the festival will return in a strong way.
“The arts are a powerful force for recovery and healing. We will recover and we will heal from this, and Mariposa wants to be a part of that,” she said.
If all goes to plan, Mariposa will return July 9 to 11, 2021.
