N.B. cultural festival cancelled two days before it was supposed to start

Teams work on a display for the Saint John Culturefest. The Culturefest in Quispamsis was cancelled on Sept. 19, 2024. (Source: Facebook/Saint John Newcomers Centre)

A New Brunswick cultural festival has been cancelled two days before it was scheduled to start.

On Thursday the Saint John Newcomers Centre announced the International Culturefest in the Valley – which was scheduled to be held in Quispamsis, N.B., on Saturday – was cancelled.

“The guiding principle of all cultural festivals across the country is that participants should not promote or disseminate any overt political or religious information at the festivals to reflect the spirit of inclusivity and diversity,” a Facebook post from the group reads. “Our Code of Conduct and programming for this festival clearly reflects this principle. For all our previous cultural festivals, we have relied on the good faith of participants to respect this principle, and to date, every festival has been successful, and inclusive.

“We are committed to creating spaces where everyone feels welcome and represented. In the interest of maintaining the tradition of inclusive, non-political, and non-religious cultural festivals, we have decided to cancel this event.”

Sochi Azuh, communications specialist with the Saint John Newcomers Centre, said the choice to cancel the festival “wasn’t a decision we took lightly” but felt it necessary due to what he called “rising tensions” in the community.

He would not elaborate on what that means.

“We’re seeing a wave of cultural festival cancellations and we’re seeing that wave come closer to our region,” Azuh said. “Festivals are cancelling over safety concerns. It’s really in the interest of ensuring the experience of the festival is not tarnished.”

The Newcomers Centre held its Saint John Culturefest last month and Azuh said it was successful. The group expanded that festival into the Kennebecasis Valley last year and it planned to continue for a second year before the cancellation.

Azuh said they plan to bring the festival to Quispamsis next year and build stronger relations between communities.

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