Major festival suddenly cancelled in Mississauga
Published May 10, 2024 at 8:26 am
The craft beer festival, slated for next month, has been cancelled in Mississauga.
CreativeHub 1352, the organizers of the Mississauga Creative Craft Beer Festival say they have been forced to cancel the event on June 14 and 15 at the Small Arms Inspection Building due to capacity limits for the event.
“It’s with great disappointment that we inform you of the cancellation of the 2024 Mississauga Creative Craft Beer Festival,” organizers wrote on the website. “This decision comes as a result of unforeseen circumstances beyond CreativeHub 1352’s control.”
Organizers said they had previous agreements with the City of Mississauga regarding the capacity limits for the event, but those limits have now been decreased to a point where the event would no longer recover its costs.
The City of Mississauga, in consultation with Mississauga Fire and Emergency Service, and in accordance with the Ontario Fire Code, determined that the inside of the Small Arms Building currently has a designed capacity for 400 people, said Kristina Zietsma, director, Recreation and Culture in an emailed statement to insauga.com.
“Regrettably, this was inconsistent with the capacity that had previously been communicated to event organizers by the City,” Zietsma said. “We do apologize for this confusion.”
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The city did explore alternatives to support the event, including using outdoor space and tents to increase overall capacity at the Small Arms Building, Zietsma said.
“Unfortunately event organizers chose not to pursue this opportunity at this time,” Zietsma added.
But festival organizers indicated they couldn’t come up with a solution for this year’s event.
“Despite our best efforts to navigate this challenge, we have been left with no choice but to cancel this year’s event,” the organizers wrote. “We prioritize our vendors and it would be unfair to proceed with an event where the capacity was significantly lower than previous festivals.”
The organizers added that the decision was not taken lightly, and they explored every possible avenue to proceed with the festival as planned.
“We understand the disappointment and inconvenience this may cause for you and your team, and we want to express our sincerest apologies for this,” they wrote.
They hope to work out an agreement with the city to host the festival next year.
Deposits made will be refunded in full, organizers said. More information regarding the refund process will be sent shortly.
The festival started in 2022, after postponements due to the pandemic.
It featured Ontario craft breweries and cideries, food and entertainment from local talent.
For more information on the cancellation, see the website here.
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Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. to include a statement from the City of Mississauga.
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