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Organizer pulls the plug on buskers festival

The Victoria International Buskers Festival has been cancelled after five seasons of entertainment in the city.
Buskers Festival
Organizers announced the Victoria International Buskers Festival has been cancelled.

The Victoria International Buskers Festival has been cancelled after five seasons of entertainment in the city.

Festival executive director John Vickers announced the cancellation earlier this week, stating a lack of funding has forced the festival, which was originally scheduled for July 14 to 23, to come to a grinding halt.

“The larger issue however is now the festival does not have city investment support, you would not be able to rely on other levels of government fulfilling their historic commitments further down the road,” Vickers said in a release.

“To assume those dollars would be there and continue to operate would be very risky for our society and also risk accumulating more debt even with planned fundraising efforts.”

A fundraising gala in February has also been cancelled.

In the past, the festival has drawn dozens of entertainers from around the world, and brought thousands of tourists and residents to Victoria's Inner Harbour to watch the performances.

While Vickers' festival has been cancelled, another buskers festival has been planned for the summer.

Last month the Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA), along with Tourism Victoria, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority and the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria, announced the addition of the Downtown Victoria Buskers Festival.

The six-day festival will take place on several stages in Victoria from July 11 to 16. There will also be a variety of “busk” stops scattered throughout the downtown.

“Festivals are one of many drivers of visitation to our destination and we are pleased to see a strong organization such as the DVBA lead this initiative,” said Tourism Victoria president and CEO Paul Nursey in a previous release.