Will Toronto Lose Another Black-Owned Festival in Afrofest?

Photo via

Despite Toronto’s insistence on branding itself as a music city, another long-running black-owned festival is in dire straits. Announced over Facebook, the largest free African music festival in North America, Afrofest announced that the city council has shortened their usual two-day July weekend festival into one day; “This move will not only make it difficult to organize a viable festival but also hinder its growth and community impact. The reasons given are that permissible sound levels and permitted time frames were exceeded in previous festivals. Afrofest organizers maintain that these allegations are inaccurate.” In addition, president of community-based organization Music Africa, Peter Toh, went on to mention that “the decision was completely unfair and discriminatory” and ““Music Africa is always willing to work constructively with City of Toronto officials but it seems that while they wish us well, they in fact set conditions to jeopardize success. This seems in complete contradiction to Toronto’s official 'Music City' initiatives.” Whilst calling on supporters to express their concerns with Toronto Mayor John Tory and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon who oversees Woodbine Park; the location that hosts Afrofest.

For many, the announcement comes as a surprise. Debuting in 1989, Afrofest was initially a day-long event that took place in Queen’s Park. The fest has grown immensely from 2,000 people to roughly 120,000 attendants over the now two-day occasion using its large platform to celebrate African culture and for many others, creating a sense of pride for the city. This pride can be attributed to its dedication to giving homegrown artists a platform as well as through the promotion of smaller businesses, particularly food vendors where homegrown cuisines like the “controversial” jollof rice are offered along with dishes like sadza, greens, and goat offal. Yet, in light of this success somehow the festival has found its future in doubt.

Afrofest’s troubles stem from a history of noise complaints and curfew violations since moving to Woodbine Park. Generally, music festivals are permitted to operate till 11 PM on Saturdays and 8 PM on Saturday, and according to McMahon, when the fest first arrived in 2012 there weren’t any issues. Nevertheless, the following years would be another story. “The next year and the following year there were issues in terms of noise. And then [in 2014] they had this Nelson Mandela candlelight vigil [that went past 8] which I completely support that but that could've been done within their time frame.”

Toh also confirms the first year went completely as planned but it’s in the years after where their accounts of events diverge. In 2013, he says, park hours were reduced from 10PM to 8PM with very little notice. As a result, pre-organized plans including a shoot with CNN who were covering the fest for a documentary couldn't be canceled and they ran overtime. He asserts, however, that 2014 went without issue and that the candlelight vigil had “no noises, just people talking.” Hoping to alleviate any further issues of going beyond park hours, Music Africa organizers began early negotiations with the city to get an extension on curfew in advance of 2015's Pan Am Games. Specifically, because they had plans to host the Pan Am relay torch as one of their events. According to Toh, the city gave them a “one-off” time extension for 9:30 PM but two weeks before plans were set to start, city organizers denied them the extension. By then, it was too late for them to renege on their plans for the torch and booking legendary zouk band Kassav' whose performance would be cut short. In light of repeated conflicts over time and noise complaints from residents and park staff—according to Toh, Afrofest hires Frontier Sound and Light to handle their music, and the majority of the events at Woodbine Park—this would be the last straw.

Photo via Afrofest

Afrofest now finds itself forced to downsize its large festival which brings in millions annually to the city, into a one-day affair. And while McMahon says that the festival will be reinstated back to two days next year if it follows protocol, this entire debacle seems to be part of a long line of issues stemming from miscommunication between the city and festival organizers. Despite Mayor Tory’s promises to look closely at existing bylaws that create “red tape” and that “the days of government officials taking months to come to different ways of saying ‘No’” have to stop, it doesn’t seem to have resulted in much. To see a festival that brings in over a million to the local economy approach its 27th year in Toronto facing such extreme penalties especially over what seems to be a trend of last-minute changes is troubling. But what’s most concerning about Afrofest’s troubles is that it’s one of the few multicultural-oriented festivals left.

Only last year, Scotiabank withdrew its support of the formerly afro-caribbean organized Caribana—sorry, Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival Festival and CHIN International Picnic, which features a wide variety of multicultural foods, now finds themselves in limbo and without sponsor. And while McMahon asserts the one day permit was “based solely on noise complaints and not the content of the festival” and in conversation is confident if the festival keeps in line things will go back to normal it’s not that simple. Afrofest is a community-driven and non-profit festival, but the reduced day means a smaller turnout, which will inevitably affect funding. That, in turn, will make it more difficult to bring on higher-level acts and financial support for the fest will consequently decrease. More importantly, it’s a damaging blow to the bottom lines of local businesses, artists, restaurants, and community-based arts programs that use Afrofest for promotion.

It is important for black-owned businesses to use one of the very few high-profile platforms offered in the city and what happens when that’s taken away. How year after year a steel pan class of 20 dwindles to thirteen or eight people because they have nowhere to promote the availability of these programs outside of bulletin boards and the internet. And that’s not to ignore Afrofest's history of noise complaints and going past closing hours), which, for an organization as large as they are, is shameful they haven’t gotten their act together. According to master drummer and founder of Muhtadi International Drumming Festival, Muhtadi Thomas, whose annual fest has also occupied the Woodbine Park space the last four years, he’s encountered little conflict with the city since “we shut down at 8 PM or 9 PM and try to stay within time limits.” Afrofest should be able to do the same.

With Toronto being positioned as world class music hub, city council has to develop a better system of communication, and fest organizers have to be aware of their limits and understand the impact and consequences of their decisions. Afrofest captures the heritage of a huge and important sect of our population, so let’s not lose another cultural landmark to those who don’t respect it.

Jabbari Weekes is a Noisey Canada staff writer. Follow him on Twitter.