2020 Saskatoon Fringe Festival cancelled

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of another popular Saskatoon event.

In a release Tuesday morning, the 25th Street Theatre board of directors says it has voted to cancel the 2020 Fringe Festival because of the impact of the pandemic.

The festival had been scheduled to run from July 30 through Aug. 8.

“This was not a decision that was made lightly as we are aware of the impact that this cancellation will have not only on our community, but on the theatre artists who rely on the festival to generate income,” executive director Anita Smith said in the release.

“In 2019 we paid out approximately $125,000 in ticket sales to our theatre artists, but with many other Fringe Festivals also cancelling their programming, and considering the unique nature of the Fringe Festival circuit requiring artists to travel across the country, the continent and the world, the board agreed that this was the responsible decision to make at this time.”

All theatre artists who were scheduled to take part in the Fringe Festival will be given the option to defer their spaces to the 2021 festival or receive full refunds of their registration fees. The same will apply for artisans and vendors.