City of Vaughan says complaints led to abrupt cancellation of Carnival Kingdom event

Thestar.com
August 11, 2018
Claire Floody

The city of Vaughan has released an updated statement saying it received more than 80 public complaints that led to the controversial cancellation of a sold-out event on Caribbean Carnival weekend.

The statement says city staff revoked the permit for Carnival Kingdom, an event run by Summer of Sound (SOS) Fest Inc., after it was determined “that applicants did not comply with the terms of the permit.”

Machel Montano, dubbed the “King of Soca,” was one of the acts scheduled to perform at the cancelled event.

Carnival Kingdom had been running for seven years and is the company’s biggest concert, said Katherine Andrews, one of the event’s co-ordinators. It was supposed to be held at the Improve Canada complex on Keele St. near Hwy. 407. It was the first time SOS Fest attempted to host the event in Vaughan. Tickets ranged from $35 to $95.

CaribanaToronto.com, which promoted Carnival Kingdom, is not connected to the group that runs the downtown Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade.

Less than two hours before doors were supposed to open, organizers said they were notified by text message that their permit for the Saturday event had been revoked. They were told that it was a result of the concert SOS Fest had hosted the previous night, called Re-Jouvert-Nate, at the same venue.

In the city of Vaughan’s statement, it outlined three separate reasons for revoking the permit. The city said Friday night’s event was “significantly” over capacity; that it went past 3 a.m., longer than the 2 a.m. cut-off allowed by the permit; and that it was too loud.

The statement said city staff made the decision without input from the mayor or council.

Leslyn Lewis, SOS Fest’s lawyer, told the Star in an interview: “At no time did the city of Vaughan give my clients a warning that something had not been complied with or that there was a breach of any kind.”

She said this decision was made Saturday morning but that organizers weren’t told until hours before the event was supposed to begin.

“We were blindsided. We had no ability to even call another city and seek an alternative venue,” Lewis said.

The city’s statement said that once the decision to revoke the permit was made, it was “communicated to the applicant as promptly as possible.”

Lewis said she understands there were complaints but that SOS Fest should have been given the chance to mitigate the problems.

“My client’s proposed numerous alternative solutions,” she said. “We advised them that people were travelling from all over the world to see this international slate of performers and that there were going to be serious repercussions in cancelling it.”

Machel Montano, dubbed the “King of Soca,” was one of the acts scheduled to perform.

Lewis says organizers are still dealing with backlash from ticket-holders.

“I think that the community is very, very hurt,” she said. “They just feel ... that they’ve been targeted and I think that we have to find a way to heal those wounds.”